One of the subjects Yoshida touched on was the lack of major AAA and AA releases from Japanese studios for the PS5. He cites the fact that he wasn’t able to have a successful live service game developed as something of a failure for him.

“During my time, people give me credit, but one of the things I was not successful at was having a successful service game, and the other thing is I was not able to have amazingly successful games made in Japan,” said Yoshida. “Other than Gran Turismo, we had many great products but didn’t really have many triple-A-level successful products. That became more and more important as the big games became bigger – the indies filled the gap, and the double-A market seems to have disappeared.”

The statement is important since, as Yoshida noted, a lot of the games developed by Japan Studio were described as sitting in that AA niche. This included games like the Gravity Rush franchise and Knack, older lesser-known releases like Soul Sacrifice, and even certified classics like Ico and Ape Escape.

“Most of the IPs that Japan Studio had were in that smaller double-A sized group, and the market became really difficult for these kinds of games,” said Yoshida. “For example, after Gravity Rush 2, [director Keiichiro Toyama] tried to come up with a new concept, but we were not able to greenlight any of his new concepts, even though they were really interesting.”

Yoshida said that Toyama’s ideas for games wouldn’t be supported by Sony moving forward since the company was more focused on releasing big blockbuster AAA games.

“In my mind, I remember his product looked like something the company wouldn’t support, the company was looking for triple-A titles, and we really struggled to get the game going,” said Yoshida. “So when Japan Studios was shut down, and he became independent, he was able to create and release Slitterhead.”

Yoshida has been quite vocal about 31 years with Sony over the last couple of months. He officially left the company back in January, and has since revealed details about how he transitioned into working with indie game developers while pushing back against PlayStation’s live service priorities at the time. Ultimately, Sony has had mixed results with its attempts at live service games, with Helldivers 2 doing really well for the company, while others like Concord would crash and burn.

With Japan Studio having been shut down back in 2021, the only remnant we have these days is Team Asobi, who has been doing excellent work with Astro Bot. For more details, check out our review of the platformer.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is more of an action-adventure game, but its combat and exploration take more than a few cues from the genre. Of course, for those seeking a more “traditional” Soulslike experience, Lords of the Fallen is launching soon on Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

It’s the long-awaited sequel to the 2014 action RPG with a world five times larger and the ambition to be Dark Souls 4.5 rather than embracing the open-world structure of Elden Ring. And though there’s no release date, Elden Ring is getting even bigger with Shadow of the Erdtree, its first expansion, in development.

The genre seems to be in a healthy place, but you can’t help but wonder, especially with how well Lies of P has been received – why has there been no revival, remaster, port, remake, what have you, of Bloodborne?

For those unaware, FromSoftware’s action RPG masterpiece launched in 2015 for the PlayStation 4. It was the antithesis to the Dark Souls series in many ways, eschewing a medieval fantasy setting for the Gothic Victorian town of Yharnam. Combat still relied on stamina management and reading an enemy’s attacks but with a heavier emphasis on aggression. Shields were pretty much a death sentence, but players could rely on firearms to stun enemies and create openings for Visceral Blows.

Healing with items was quick, but when damaged, you could recover health by landing blows on an enemy. Movement and dodging felt faster, allowing for quicker reactions to enemies and bosses and adding to the risk vs reward mechanic. It doesn’t even begin to cover Bloodborne’s story, level design and bosses, with the sublime lore tying it all together in incredible ways. It was also the first FromSoftware game to this day to experiment with procedurally generated Chalice Dungeons (though the ones with fixed layouts were better received).

Bloodborne received extensive critical acclaim when it launched and its fair share of nominations. It was one of the few games that year to compete with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in acclaim, even if the latter ultimately won out in awards. Due to Sony publishing the title, with Japan Studio supervising and co-producing, Bloodborne remained exclusive to PlayStation 4, becoming one of the first major reasons to pick up the console.

Perhaps the only real drawback is that it’s stuck at 1080p/30 FPS. Despite a gorgeous aesthetic, from the detailed environments to the hideously grotesque enemies, Bloodborne received criticism for its performance and loading times at launch. It was patched quickly enough, but you can’t experience the game at a higher resolution or frame rate today.

All of this leads to the same question that fans have asked for years: Why is Bloodborne still stuck on the PS4? Why is there no PS5 release, remaster or even a PC port? Given the number of titles which have received the remake/remaster treatment, not to mention the previous-to-current-gen port treatment, it’s odd to see it neglected in such a way.

Sure, there have been several rumors and reports, including Bluepoint Games working on a sequel and remaster. However, noted insiders, including who leaked details about Elden Ring, have never encountered anything to do with Bloodborne despite seeking it several times. Not even a patch to have the game run at 60 FPS on PS5.

While it’s a shame for many reasons, perhaps it’s time to accept the hard truth: Bloodborne may never get remade or remastered. You would be hard-pressed to see anything done with the franchise anytime soon.

There are several reasons why. FromSoftware director Hidetaka Miyazaki spoke in 2015 about how he didn’t think it was the “right choice” to continue “indefinitely creating Souls and Bloodborne games.” At the time, he considered Dark Souls 3 as the “big closure of the series.” Elden Ring has a new setting with a new story and a vast open world, but it’s still heavily based on Dark Souls. Maybe the developer isn’t completely opposed to returning to Bloodborne if incentivized enough.

Unfortunately, much of that would depend on Sony, which owns the rights to the game. Bloodborne sold one million copies in its first month of release and hit two million sold within six months. It’s nothing terrible, but far behind what some of the company’s biggest exclusives have achieved in a shorter span.

As the publisher focused on bigger, more cinematic action-adventure games, it de-emphasized “riskier” projects that may not see such significant returns. That trend has only become more prominent in the PS5 era, except now it’s pushing for several live-service titles by April 2026, despite issues behind the scenes with releases like The Last of Us multiplayer project.

Still, Demon’s Souls received a remake on PS5 nearly three years ago, courtesy of Bluepoint, so there’s still hope for Bloodborne. Right? Sadly, despite a positive critical response, the release probably cemented what Sony already knew. It sold 1.4 million copies in about ten months, again not terrible but way behind what its other big franchises have achieved in a shorter time frame.

Of course, there are other factors to consider. Sony had other original IPs like Gravity Rush, Puppeteer, Tokyo Jungle, Patapon and more, but these didn’t fit with the company’s vision for big-budget, triple-A blockbusters. Japan Studio would close, with only Team Asobi of Astro Bot fame remaining. While a Bloodborne remake or remaster isn’t impossible without the team, it’s certainly a lot harder, further adding to the risks that Sony may not want to take.

You could argue that releasing it on PC could result in more sales for the publisher. However, the effort required to port it, especially considering how much work is needed to implement new graphical options and optimize it for a wider range of hardware, may not be worth the investment. Besides, as well as Sony’s initial PlayStation releases like Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War have performed, its recent titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Returnal and The Last of Us Part 1 haven’t done as well.

Make no mistake – Sony has the resources to make a remaster, much less a remake, happen. However, as successful as Souls-like titles, whether they bear the FromSoftware name or not, it’s not enough to justify the company’s time and investment based on its current plans and vision. That’s not criticism of its approach, even taking its live-service ambitions into account, but the reality of the situation.

Never say never and all that jazz, but for now, we’ll have to be content with waiting and imagining what could have been. Unless you’re keen on modding your PS4 to get it running at 60 FPS, that is.

Bluepoint Games stunned us with gameplay from Demon’s Souls, which showcased numerous aspects of FromSoftware’s classic remade with gorgeous fidelity. However, a release date seemed sorely lacking at the end especially with speculation of it launching with the PS5. That speculation can be put to rest though, thanks The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley.

Keighley confirmed on Twitter that Demon’s Souls is a launch title for the PS5. Sony Japan has followed up with its own PlayStation Blog post on the PS5’s price and release date, and confirmed that the game is indeed available with the console at launch. Long story short, fans of the original Souls-like will get their fix on day one.

The PS5 is slated to release on November 12th for the United States and Japan (among other regions), and November 19th for the rest of the world. It will retail for $499 while the digital edition will cost $399. Stay tuned for more details on Demon’s Souls in the coming months.

DEMON'S SOULS is a launch title for #PlayStation5 pic.twitter.com/yxCgXrlwoE

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) September 16, 2020

SIE Japan Studio, the development team that has over the years brought us classic such as Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian (and Knack), will be hosting the Japan Studio “Fun” Meeting 2018, an event dedicated to the studio, on December 1.

The meet will be attended by several members of the studio, while Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida will also be in attendance, in addition to a total of 100 fans, who will be selected based on applications online- you can find the application form here.

The meet will play host to an exhibition, in addition to panels, as well as playable games. What these playable games will be is anyone’s best guess, though it’s safe to assume that The Last Guardian, SIE Japan’s last major title, will probably be there in some capacity. Those in attendance might even get the chance to get some hands on time with Déraciné, which SIE Japan is co-developing with FromSoftware.

It’s no secret that the studio is currently working on other new games as well, but whether or not any of these will be shown (or even hinted at) isn’t known. It seems a little unlikely though. Either way, stay tuned to GamingBolt, and we’ll keep you updated.

A good number of games sort of sneaked by without releases (again) during Sony’s Media Showcase at Paris Games Week. However, some titles like Shadow of the Colossus did receive a release date. We can look forward to the remake of the PS2 classic on February 6th 2018 for PS4. The game is currently available to pre-order.

Developed by Sony Japan Studio and remade for the PS4 from the ground up by Bluepoint Games, Shadow of the Colossus sees players hunting down several enormous creatures known as Colossi. Each Colossus has their own weakness but each battle is a puzzle that must be solved. Oftentimes, you need to travel the land to find the Colossi (which is achieved with Wander’s horse Agro).

Shadow of the Colossus looks pretty darn good thanks to the work of Bluepoint Games which has handled ports like Titanfall for Xbox 360 and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection for PS4.

Sony’s Japan Studio has had its hands full with The Last Guardian. Originally meant to release on PS3, the project was in limbo as creator Fumito Ueda left the company, founded his own studio called GenDesign (that is now assisting on the game) and development later moved to the PS4.

Speaking to IGN, Ueda revealed that the development cycle wasn’t meant to be so long. We thought that Ico and Shadow of the Colossus took a long time to develop, so one of the missions of The Last Guardian was that we wanted to create something good in a short period of time, so the fact that it took a long time to develop was completely unexpected for me.”

Furthermore, Ueda noted that, “It would be nice to talk about all the struggles we’ve been through, but there’s a lot of things that we can’t say yet.” Which only makes us think of other things that hindered the game’s development that we don’t know about.

Ueda also noted that he was happy that development shifted to the PS4. “Now that I look back at it, the PS3 market has become smaller at this point and now I think the PS4 market is the main market so I am happy to have this title as a PS4 exclusive title, but when the decision was first made I had some difficulty and I felt a little disappointed because I wanted to release this game earlier.”

The Last Guardian will be at E3 2016 and is apparently receiving new details. It’s scheduled to release this year so stay tuned for more details.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 support is seriously to be commended. With Microsoft having left the Xbox 360 to largely fend for itself as it prepares for the upcoming Xbox One launch, and Nintendo all but dropping Wii support a year before the Wii U launched, Sony has set an exemplary precedent for the entire industry, having launched so many major exclusives for their soon to be obsolete platform this year, with more coming up.

One of these is Rain, a highly tense new adventure game coming to PlayStation 3 later this year from Japan Studio. If the game hasn’t caught your eye yet, or if you don’t know what it is about, make sure to check out the developer diary above. It talks about the crafting of a game world that the player responds to emotionally, while also showing off new gameplay footage.

Rain is a PSN only release on the PlayStation 3. It launches later this year.

Is it doomed to mediocre sales for the rest of its life? Or would its creator aggressively try to court developers into creating something that does in fact give it a chance in the ever challenging video games market?

The answer is Soul Sacrifice; a game made by previous Capcom executive, Keiji Inafune, in collaboration with Sony. Well that sounds great, but is the game a proper replacement for Monster Hunter? First, let me get this doubt out of the way. It has nothing to do with Monster Hunter except for some similar themes.

Soul Sacrifice is purely a single player game that offers tons of content and is definitely something that is a showcase for the Vita’s hardware. The game starts off in style, too.

You are a no-name prisoner captured and in a cage, ready to be executed by an evil magician. The guy who was in the queue before you dies a horrible death, and it’s your turn next. So what do you do?

Luckily, you find a talking book called Librom, which is filled with secrets, and is the key to you getting out of that place and possibly defeating the evil magician. Librom gives you the quests and also contains all the inventory details from where you can customize your character.

The story is told in an interesting way where you get to relive the memories of the evil magician–who was actually a good guy at one time. The point here is to find out how he turned into evil and what circumstances led to that change.

It’s not going to be easy though. This is a massive game and reaching the end and finding answers to all your questions will take a lot of time. In a way it’s refreshing that a handheld game contains so much content and makes it easier to pick up and play due to the mission structure.

The game is all about magic, gore and violence. It’s about punishing your enemies, sacrificing them, using your body parts to create weapons to do damage to the things standing in your way. It also features a good customization options which allows you to choose the magic type, the way your character looks and so on.

The game looks great on the Vita screen. The lighting effects really does make the game stand out a bit. However, considering it’s a handheld game there are limitations like low res textures. That’s not really a major issue though since all you will be doing is fighting enemies and trying to survive.

There are two major mechanics in the game that are available to you after defeating an enemy. You can use the enemy’s soul to either increase your health bar or magic bar. This has to be done properly depending on what’s required.

The game eases you into a tutorial with weak enemies early on and it will be very easy to beat them and get the hang of the controls, which are very smooth. I had a doubt whether the controls would do justice to the game since it’s on a handheld, but there’s absolutely no problem with that.

As you flick the pages of Librom and fight enemies, you will become stronger, gain more powers and advance in the story.

The animations when you activate a power is well done and it really does feel like the developers wanted players to see how cool it is to have powers like that. The game contains a variety of powers like short range attack boost to some massive damage attacks.

For example, you can transform into a boulder and charge into an enemy, and if it’s a lowly one, then you can eliminate it with this move. Using such moves will reduce your magic and you need to use the souls of your defeated foes to replenish the bar. The level design is constricted but considering it’s a handheld game it is something that we normally don’t see often. When you compare it to console games, sure, it does look weathered down, but on handhelds it becomes an ambitious thing.

There are powers in this game that will clean out everything on the screen, including bosses. But there’s a downside to all that. The more powerful your attack, the more weak your body becomes, and also requires a rare resource to be completely healed. It’s like a game of chess where you have to plan your moves properly, avoid enemies when your health is low, and somehow try to win without taking much damage.

One thing I was disappointed in was the story. There’s hardly any motivation to do things the book tells you to do. It’s about the end goal of escaping from the predicament you find yourself in, and there’s hardly any narrative branches to make things interesting.

However, the game is an ambitious one on a handheld, and is arguably the PS Vita’s best game so far. There may be Uncharted’s in the future, but when you look at the amount of unique features Soul Sacrifice possesses, filled with inspiring art design and menacing enemies, it automatically takes it a level higher than the rest.

This game was reviewed on the PS Vita.

Puppeteer was previously announced at Gamescom last year. Puppeteer is a brand new platforming title that is being developed by Sony Japan Studio. You play as a boy named Kutaro. Kutaro was transformed into a puppet and his goal is to escape the evil Moon Bear King’s castle.

Here is a brief description of the gameplay style of Puppeteer:

“Cut and crop your way through an ever-changing fantasy world with a pair of magical scissors,” Sony says. “Swap your head to suit the situation and use your fresh perspective to find the way home.”

Check out the brand new trailer and screenshots below (credit goes to SixthAxis):

Sony already confirmed that Puppeteer will be available via retailer or digitally on September 10th in North America and Europe on September 11th.

The game looks charming, let us know what you think of Puppeteer in the comments below. Check back on GamingBolt for more news and our review of Puppeteer when it hits the store shelves in September.

You have seen apocalyptic wastelands before, but i can guarantee you have never seen one quite like this. In my time with the game I witnessed: cats sporting builders hats and hanging around in gangs, gangs of dogs; their leader kitted out in what looks like something a chinese emperor would wear, and to top it off with a bit of background detail, a giant fish slapped up against the side of a building. There is no mistaking the game is Japanese, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when the concept was pitched, you just don’t get games like this anymore, which for me makes it even more appealing and I found it the perfect antidote for genre fatigue. It is essentially a side-scroller but you can move up and down the screen as well, you can move into other sections by moving through funnels on the vertical plane, and the game also uses its verticality nicely to get access to rooftops and the like.

The humans have all gone and the streets of Tokyo are now a proving ground for various animal factions, even extinct ones. You play the game as various animals, but at the start you have a choice of 2: a Pomeranian dog who looks like butter wouldn’t melt but can drop a sheep in one lunge, or a Sika deer whose only advantage is its speed. These 2 animals might not sound very exciting to play as, but they are both actually quite fun, and if you stick at it you will eventually unlock much more formidable mammals.

You know you wouldn’t mess with him.

 There is a huge selection of animals, you unlock them by completing various challenges, and inevitably some are locked out unless you pay for them as DLC.  The tutorial is pretty lengthy and is compulsory, it teaches you the basics of the game and it is essential to learn the differences between playing as a carnivore or a herbivore. The game’s narrative and tutorial are all text-based, and the sound effects are very basic to say the least. The game seems to layer a hyperactive, and admittedly annoying drum-loop over all the action; with no option to turn it off. So your choice is to either put up with it or use your TV’s mute functionality.

When the game starts you realise how left-field the game actually is; you play survival mode first to unlock the story mode, in most games the opposite would be true. The learning curve will put some off as the game fails to explain the basics of story progression to the player, and you must therefore figure it out for yourself, personally I found this refreshing in a world of games terrified of alienating their audience.The in-game clock ticks through the years in minutes, and your Pomeranians’ breathing makes it look like he’s bopping along to the ever-present drum-loop. The time going so fast adds to the sense of urgency that is looming throughout the game.

The game really is a surreal experience.

You have a hunger gauge in the top left corner of your HUD, and if this empties your health is next and you are dead. Certain areas have toxic fumes, these slowly build up a toxicity meter on the bottom right of your HUD, if this reaches 100% it will also eat into your health and again you are dead; the toxic fumes also affect the meat of you prey and the gauge will rise quicker if you eat tainted meat.  If you reach the age of 15 before you reproduce, you are dead. Everything you do must be pre-planned; want to go to a different area but plan on coming back this way? You had better leave yourself some food for the return trip.

You start life as a “rookie” and when you intake a set amount of calories you rise to “veteran” and then “boss”, thus increasing your stats. There is another reason for increasing your rank, other than the obvious statistical benefits, and that is to attract a better mate. The better quality your mate, the better stats you pass on to your offspring. Mates come in 3 categories  Prime, average and desperate – beware, for desperate bitches give you fleas and if you do contract them you will be paralyzed whilst you scratch. The first step to acquiring a mate is the claim a territory as your own, this is achieved by marking flags dotted around the area. Once the territory is occupied a choice of different grade mates appear on the map, seemingly attracted by your manly pheromones. The game does not tell you what grade they are, and I could not find a way to send them away once approached, so this can be a bit of a lottery.

Luckily the camera pulls away shortly after this scene.

Once the deed is done control passes over to your offspring and the cycle begins anew; yet this time if you die control switches to one of your siblings, until there is one left. Another advantage of having sibling is that you can use them as a distraction against a formidable enemy, by holding down triangle. The combat itself is simple fun, R1 performs instant kills against the right animal, but these can only be performed if the animal is fleeing, if you are unseen, or if you evade an incoming insta-kill and immediately counter in riposte. Evades are performed with a flick of the right stick and can be used in combat or when fleeing a big animal; doing so eats your stamina gauge so be careful. The controls take some getting used to, I personally kept flicking the right stick to control the camera, and instead jumping into the maws of an enemy.

When playing as a herbivore the game is pretty much Metal Deer Solid 3: Grass Eater. You hide in the long grass from predators, run away a lot and do everything the same but more carefully. It feels great when playing as a Sika Deer when you hide in the grass next to an unsuspecting crow, then press R1 to kick it in the face ending its life instantly. There are even a couple of sections in the Story mode where you control a Deer whilst hiding under a plastic container, this really does evoke images of MGS.

There is just something really compelling about the game, it is very addictive it’s a shame there are no “friends only” scoreboards because it is a score-based game after all. I think what makes the game feel good to play is purity of design, the game isn’t trying to appeal to everybody, it hates you and it wants you to know it. It knows it’s a weird curiosity and it wants you to embrace it, and lets face it where else can you play as a Cat and take on a Velociraptor?

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.