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PS5 shooter Synduality follows the sci-fi shooter trend into 2023

Bandai Namco announced a sci-fi third-person shooter called Synduality at today’s PlayStation State of Play. Its reveal trailer doesn’t explain much about the story or its characters, but it offers a glimpse at the futuristic setting and gameplay. It starts with a cryptic quote from science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” It’s clear that technology will play a major role in the game.

Synduality takes place in a dystopian future where poisonous rain and mutants have wiped out most of humanity. The survivors have built an underground haven called Amasia, where they work with AI to survive. Those same survivors spend most of their days collecting AO crystals, a valuable resource needed to survive. An AI called Magus, who is presumably the white-haired girl in the trailer, and a dark-haired man who communicates with her from inside his “Cradle Coffin” (or mech) work together to survive the dystopia.

It looks like something out of Star Wars — or maybe Tower of Fantasy if it had a higher budget.

Magus narrates the pair’s crystal collection chores and exploration as they zoom through green and blue grasses and mechanical hallways. Some of the third-person shooter gameplay and real-time combat also pop up in the preview. While it’s advertised as a shooter, it also seems to involve some RPG elements. We don’t know much about Magus and the protagonist, but they seem to have a master-and-servant relationship. At the end of the trailer, she calls him “sir” when she apologizes for suddenly rebooting the systems around him.

“Journey alongside your AI and Mecha to survive this dystopian futuristic adventure,” reads the trailer description.

Synduality is currently in development for PlayStation 5. In the trailer, the subtext notes that a multiplayer component will be locked behind a PlayStation Plus membership. Expect to hear more before its release in 2023.