When Sony released the PlayStation 4 way back in November of 2013, they made a smart decision to focus all of their core messaging strictly on both new and longtime gamers alike. In the years that followed, we received a few standout games like Infamous: Second Son, Bloodborne, Ratchet & Clank and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End along with promises of even better titles to come in the future.
2017 marks the beginning of those initial promises and thus I felt it was necessary to put together a detailed overview of several upcoming PS4 exclusives that are destined to take up most of our time all year long. Please note that this list only includes titles that are exclusive to the PlayStation platform and doesn’t take into account any multiplatform releases.
Gravity Rush 2
Release Date: January 20th
Gravity Rush 2 is an upcoming action-adventure game developed by SIE Japan Studio and Project Siren. This long-awaited sequel offers players three distinct gravity styles to choose from, a larger map filled with more missions than ever before and a new campaign storyline that lasts roughly 20-40 hours. Gravity Rush 2 is one of the first major PS4 exclusives out this month and a strong assurance that Sony starts off 2017 with a bang.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
Release Date: January 24th
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is the latest remastered entry in the Kingdom Hearts series developed by Square Enix. Prologue includes a remaster of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and two new pieces of content in Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover and Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage.
Back Cover will act as a cinematic sequence while Kingdom Hearts 0.2 is a new game that takes place after Birth by Sleep. This particular release along with PS4 remastered versions of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 and 2.5 Remix later this year will hold fans over until Kingdom Hearts 3 drops further down the road.
Yakuza 0
Release Date: January 24th
Yakuza 0 is an open world action-adventure game developed and published by Sega. This prequel takes place in a fictional recreation of Tokyo’s Kabukicho Shinjuku Golden Gai and Osaka’s Dontonbori areas during the late 1980’s. Fans of the Yakuza series have a very good idea of what to expect from this title and will surely be pleased with the final product.
Nioh
Release Date: February 9th
Nioh is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Team Ninja. This title takes place in Japan during the 1600s and allows players to take on the role of a real-life western sailor turned samurai named William Adams.
Nioh has been compared to many other titles like Onimusha, Ninja Gaiden, and Dark Souls thanks in part to the brutally unforgiving combat that it presents to the player. Being mentioned among these other notable games is no small feat and I’m certain that Nioh has all the potential in the world to be one of the most memorable titles of 2017.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Release Date: February 28th
Horizon Zero Dawn is a third-person action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and revolves around a female hunter and archer named Ahoy as she faces off against menacing robotic creatures. Horizon Zero Dawn is arguably one of the most anticipated games on this list and may be Guerrilla’s best project to date.
MLB The Show 17
Release Date: March 28th
MLB The Show 17 is the twelfth entry in SIE San Diego Studio’s popular Baseball series. Any and every fan of the sport can expect the same great features as last year and a few enhancements to various modes here and there.
Persona 5
Release Date: April 4th
Persona 5 is a role-playing game developed by Atlus and the latest installment in the Persona series. This sequel takes place in Tokyo and allows the player to take on the role of a silent high school protagonist who experiences various social simulations throughout a full year. Persona 5 is one title that fans have been looking forward to for a long time and the wait is almost over.
Ace Combat 7
Release Date: TBA 2017
Ace Combat 7 is an upcoming action combat flight simulator developed by Project Aces for PS4 and PlayStation VR. There has been speculation recently that this game was rated for Xbox One but that news hasn’t been confirmed to be true by Bandai Namco Entertainment.There’s currently no confirmed release date for Ace Combat 7.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
Release Date: TBA 2017
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is an upcoming platformer collection of remakes based on the first three Crash Bandicoot games. This compilation is being developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision as a PS4 exclusive. There’s currently no release date listed, but my best guess would be that it launches sometime between the second and third quarter of 2017.
Detroit: Become Human
Release Date: TBA 2017
Detroit: Become Human is a neo-noir thriller and third-person action-adventure game developed by Quantic Dream. Players take on the roles of various androids living within the real world and wrestling with the desires of becoming human. There currently isn’t a confirmed release date for Detroit: Become Human but that is sure to change before the year is over.
Drawn To Death
Release Date: TBA 2017
Drawn to Death is a third-person four-player shooter developed by David Jaffe’s studio The Barlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency and SIE San Diego Studio. The game takes place within a teenager’s sketchbook and could be best described as an arena shooter. Drawn to Death is expected to launch sometime later this year.
Dreams
Release Date: TBA 2017
Dreams is an upcoming sandbox game being developed by Media Molecule. This title will allow players to play, create and share user-generated content. Details are still scarce on this game at the moment but a beta is expected to drop sometime later this year.
Knack 2
Release Date: Q3/Q4 2017
Knack 2 is an action-platformer currently being developed by SIE Japan Studio. This sequel was announced during PlayStation Experience 2016 last month and is expected to launch worldwide later this year.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Release Date: TBA 2017
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is simply a high-definition remaster of Final Fantasy XII for the PS4. Despite this fact, many are still excited for this and another Final Fantasy game that we will come back to shortly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0siGVASN9PQ
Gran Turismo Sport
Release Date: TBA 2017
Gran Turismo Sport is an upcoming racing game being developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Sport will include a campaign, sports, and arcade modes and be the first Gran Turismo game to release on the PS4. This highly anticipated racer is expected to launch worldwide later this year.
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Release Date: TBA 2017
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is a role-playing game currently being developed by Level-5 . This title is the sequel to Ni No Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn and is expected to launch sometime later this year.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Release Date: TBA 2017
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a standalone action-adventure game currently being developed by Naughty Dog. This single-player DLC stars Chloe Frazer and will be accessible for everyone who purchased the season pass for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. There’s currently no release date but fans can definitely expect to play this downloadable content in the not too distant future.
Other Possible Releases
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Release Date: TBA
Final Fantasy VII Remake is an action role-playing game and a full-fledged remake of the original 1997 PlayStation title. Last year, Square Enix revealed their plans to make this a multi-part series as episodes that span across various full-sized games.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the original game and therefore it isn’t totally out of the question for us to get the first of many games by the end of 2017. Perhaps we will hear more details on this sooner rather than later.
God of War
Release Date: TBA
God of War is a third-person action-adventure game being developed by SIE Santa Monica Studio. While this particular title is the eighth major installment in the series, the franchise has now shifted to Norse mythology and revolves around an older Kratos mentoring his son.
Corey Barlog stated recently on Twitter that the game is currently playable from start to finish but there’s no telling how much polish is needed to get to a finished state. I’m personally hoping that we get this title later this year but I’m also fine with a 2018 release as well.
Days Gone
Release Date: TBA
Days Gone is an open world action-adventure survival horror game being developed by SIE Bend Studio. Players take on the role of a bounty hunter named Deacon St. John during the aftermath of a zombie outbreak.
Days Gone went into production sometime in January of 2015 and the likelihood of a 2017 release seems unrealistic. With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if we did get the game sooner as it already looks impressive and ready for primetime.
Spider-Man
Release Date: TBA
Spider-Man is an upcoming open world action-adventure game based on the popular Marvel Comics character of the same name. This Insomniac Games developed title will focus on a new story and won’t be tied to any film or comic book.
Horizon Zero Dawn, Spider-Man, and Days Gone were three standout titles that we saw a lot of during Sony’s PS4 Pro reveal last year. One could argue that any of the games shown during that presentation could launch on the system anytime within one full year of the 4k console reveal. Of course, it’s important to remember that we don’t know how far along in the development cycle Spider-Man or Days Gone truly are. No matter how long it takes, there is no doubt about it that Spider-Man has all the tools possible to be a mega success.
This concludes my list on the most anticipated PS4 exclusives of 2017. Do any of you plan on buying one of all of the titles listed above? Please feel free to let us know in the comments section below.
