SYNDUALITY - What We Know So Far

Sony's most recent State of Play broadcast had plenty of big reveals for PlayStation fans. New titles like the sci-fi adventure "Pacific Drive" and Team Ninja's new open-world action game "Rise of the Ronin" were revealed for the first time, and "Stellar Blade" (previously called "Project Eve") was given a more in-depth look before an epic line from Kratos in the "God of War: Ragnarok" story trailer took over Twitter.

One of the other brand new reveals during the State of Play came from Bandai Namco Entertainment. Titled "SYNDUALITY," this sci-fi shooter is actually one part of a new transmedia franchise meaning that not only is the game on its way, but an entire "SYNDUALITY" anime is as well. Fans of giant robots and/or mechsuits will want to keep their eyes especially fixed on the game, however, due to the player's role as a Drifter, pilots of enormous mechs called Cradle Coffins that will be used in the fight to prevent humanity's extinction.

For now, all we know is that "SYNDUALITY" is planned to release at some point in 2023. However, thanks to the game's official website we know that it will be releasing on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. There is no word at the moment if the game will also be available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. 

While there isn't a release date quite yet, we do have a handful of details regarding the game's setting and story thanks to its official website. In the distant future, a poisonous rain known as "The Tears of the New Moon" has nearly wiped out all of humanity while simultaneously giving rise to malformed monsters known as Enders that hunt down whoever is left. Sometime after this world-altering event in the year 2222, humans have created an underground city known as Amasia where they started working together with artificial intelligence programs known as Magus.

In the game's announcement trailer, we get a look at not only the player's Magus in action, but plenty of footage of the aforementioned Cradle Coffin mech blasting into battle and exploring the game's sci-fi world. Through both in-game cinematics and gameplay footage captured on a PlayStation5, we see a the player's Cradle Coffin traversing through a variety of environments which include industrial plants, colorful forests, and rocky mountainsides. 

As seen in the trailer and explained on the official website, when the player isn't busy zooming and shooting around a battlefield, they'll be collecting AO crystals. At the moment, we don't know what purpose these crystals have within the game, but we do know that obtaining them is important to the player's role as a Drifter. If the trailer is anything to go by, venturing into the world to obtain AO crystals will be a challenge, thanks to a host of enemies that would like nothing more than to impede player progress.

From the announcement trailer, we can see that the gameplay consists of both world exploration and shooting combat from a third-person perspective. We don't know too much else at this point in time, but the game's website does tell us that players' Cradle Coffin mechs will be fully customizable, including their appearance and weapon loadouts. 

What type of weapon variety will be included is unknown beyond those shown in the trailer such as lasers and grenade launchers, but with the game's addition of multiplayer, fans will definitely want to figure out what tools work best for them in a variety of combat scenarios. Not only will there be cooperative multiplayer, but players will even be able to turn against one another in order to abscond with in-game resources. The second half of the announcement trailer briefly shows multiplayer gameplay in action, but we'll have to wait before we're shown exactly how the cooperative and competitive facets of the game will work.