The PS5's Future Is Full Of Sword-Swinging Action Games
If you watched Sony's February 12, 2025 State of Play showcase, you might have noticed that there are an awful lot of third-person, melee-based combat games on the horizon for PS5 (as well as Xbox and PC). Some are expected this year, while others are more likely to land in 2026.
Read More: Everything We Saw At 2025's First Big PlayStation State Of Play
That's great news if you're a fan of games in which you can twirl the camera around your character while also slashing up baddies. As a lover of such games myself, I thought it fitting to take a closer look at some of these games, when they're coming out, and what was notable about their trailers from last night.
While all of these games are likely to have their own unique spins on the broader genres of third-person hack 'n slash games, each with their own RPG systems, levels of difficulty, worlds of varying scope and size, and so forth, most of them seem to tap into a similar wavelength of speedy, slashy, hopefully stylishly energetic gameplay. Let's dig in (preferably with your sharp implement of choice).
I thought Stellar Blade was…well, it was okay. I mean, sure, give me a sword while letting me look pretty and I'm happy to cut into some freaks who have a habit of wandering about post-apocalyptic spaces. But I couldn't tell you what the story was about (boilerplate sci-fi stuff) and oh. my. goddess did that soundtrack drive me out of my wits (I muted it and just listened to Gojira instead). As former Kotaku writer Levi Winslow discussed in their review of last year's slashy dress-'em-up, protagonist Eve also feels a little wonky to play at times—oh, and you'll have to drag around some stupid boxes—but the combat is a lot of fun and I rather enjoyed learning the combos to punish pathetic little things while dressed all hot like.
Stellar Blade is getting a PC release (so you can totally behave yourselves with mods, you devils) as well as a DLC crossover with Goddess of Victory: Nikke, a free-to-play title developed by Stellar Blade's crew, Shift Up. There's not a whole lot of info about the Nikke DLC, but Nikke is a shooter and so I'm hoping this at least gives Stellar Blade an opportunity to improve its lackluster shooting mechanics.
Stellar Blade isn't the only game we learned would soon be getting DLC. As we saw during last night's event, 2023's Pinnochio-themed soulslike Lies of P is also getting an expansion that serves as a prequel to the main game.
I happened to really enjoy the presentation and vibes on display in Lost Soul Aside's trailer from Sony's event. Yes, watch that trailer again, but also just check out these environments!
Gorgeous, right? Far too many games we saw were drowned in post-apocalypse gray. Lost Soul Aside seems to have some of that for sure, but it's nice to get a look at some sweeping fantasy landscapes that aren't afraid to show off some natural beauty and weirdo fantasy/sci-fi architecture. And it's no surprise, given the game's inspirations.
Lost Soul Aside started its development in 2014 (a simpler era), when the initial one-man dev team of Yang Bing was inspired by Final Fantasy XV. Since Bing began work on the game, however, more people have joined, with at least 14 on staff as of 2019. Though the game was originally slated to arrive on the PS4, it would seem that's no longer the case. PS4 is not mentioned on the official store page for Lost Soul Aside, and it would seem Bing is really in favor of high framerates, as we perhaps all should be for such a game.
And if you don't own a PS5, no worries. Lost Soul Aside is also coming to PC.
Sony gave us a double dose of Capcom's Onimusha series during the showcase, with a nice throwback to 2002's Onimusha 2 via a remaster expected on May 23 (also coming to Xbox, Switch, and PC) and a fresh look at the franchise's new entry, Onimusha: Way of the Sword. As I pointed out in our rundown of the event, Way of the Sword seems to prioritize interacting with physical objects in a way that I think will really help set it apart from other modern samurai games, as well as from the other games I'm talking about here.
During the trailer, protagonist Miyamato Musashi (whose likeness is based on that of legendary actor Toshiro Mifune) is seen grabbing objects for cover and even tossing enemies into hanging clothes which then entangle them. I'm excited to see how this plays in real time, because I sure do love being encouraged to not only take in my surroundings, but also to use them against my enemies.
Time will tell just how well this mechanic works in the actual game. I'm hoping for enough objects to use, and enough different ways to use them, that what emerges is a host of surprising situations both awesome and hilarious.
Hell Is Us was probably the most memorable trailer from the event for me. What's funny is that the brief glimpse of yet another world gone to heck and another character voiced by Elias Toufexis (of Adam Jensen fame) for me to get all hot and bothered over really didn't show that much gameplay.
The mood and tone of the game is what really stands out. It may be yet another game about a damned world, but Hell Is Us seems more eager than most to mess around with its setting, playing with slightly unrealistic, borderline surreal-looking characters and enemies. Hopefully that will add enough layers of weirdness to its post-apocalyptic mire to distinguish it from all the other games that imagine bleak futures for us.
Tides of Annihilation was yet another game set in a doomed world. (Really, folks, can we start imagining better futures? I'm begging for something more hopeful.) The game's website is rather sparse on details, but the trailer mostly tells us what we need to know: The world sucks, but your combat skills sure don't. It looks rather speedy too, with spectral allies seemingly fighting alongside protagonist Gwendolyn (the game seems to be riffing on Arthurian legend), and some massive-looking creatures we'll likely need to put down if we're to have any hope of saving this world.
I'm getting a bit of a 'Met Gala' feel from this, which helps distinguish it from the grungier, more masculine vibes of the other games we saw last night, and there are glimpses of some environmental traversal that remind me a touch of NieR: Automata.Of course that's not all of the third-person action we saw during last night's event. Monster Hunter Wilds and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii are also arriving this year, though their styles of third-person gameplay are a touch different from those of the more Devil May Cry-esque and soulslike games that dominated the proceedings.
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