Commander Fury

PlayStation VR owners have plenty to look forward to in the coming months, and at a recent event held at PlayStation’s San Mateo headquarters Tim and I got a chance to go hands-on (eyeballs-on?) with a few just-released and upcoming titles. Here are four we think are worth keeping an eye on: Stardust Odyssey Out December 3, 2019 From Agharta Studio comes a beautifully presented high-fantasy sci-fi space pirate adventure whose opening tutorial sees you unwittingly delivering an artifact of immense power to the game’s main antagonist. Whoops. Stardust Odyssey eschews the traditional VR motif of physically reaching out to grab things, opting instead to equip players with a sort of magnetic tether that lets them set their own frame of reference for the game’s controls. I used my left hand to control my ship’s throttle, pushing forward to speed up and pointing in various directions to navigate each level. This makes piloting your wood-and-metal dirigible a joy, enabling effortless traversal through a convoy of oblivious ships whose treasures you can liberate with your trusty tether. Once you’ve got a feel for your vessel’s controls, you gain access to magical spells that allow you to attack hostile drones with lightning or create a shield to absorb incoming damage. These new abilities, combined with the option to hide behind other ships to avoid incoming enemy scans, make for an engaging, varied experience that Agharta thinks should take around 10 hours for players to complete (not counting the extra time it will take to complete the game’s optional content and unlock its Trophies). The Room VR: A Dark Matter Out in Early 2020 An escape room-esque experience adapted from the award-winning mobile game of the same name, The Room VR will test players’ logical thinking skills while immersing them in a noir mystery story with eldritch trappings. What has always eluded me about the “escape room” experience is the fact that they’re designed for a group of multiple people to collaboratively solve. Perhaps I’m not the sharpest crayon in the box, but I always feel like my role in these events is relegated to “clue gatherer” or “guinea pig for outlandish solutions that usually don’t work.” In The Room VR, the puzzles — at least those in the first level, which took me around 15 minutes to solve — are approachable enough that a little ingenuity combined with some light trial and error was usually enough for me to crack the code without getting too frustrated. I’m told the game gets more difficult beyond that, but I was too embarrassed to let folks waiting to play see me struggle with those challenges. I’ll give them a go in the judgment-free privacy of my living room when The Room VR launches early next year. Pixel Ripped 1995 Spring 2020 Following up the quirky, delightful Pixel Ripped 1989 is a new title set six years later, just on the cusp of the advent of polygonal gaming. 1995 opens with you (a small child) in your poster-laden bedroom, lit by the comforting glow of your CRT television and the side-scrolling platformer you’re playing on it. Of course, it’s not long before dear old mom comes to tell you it’s past your bedtime, forcing you to turn off the TV and get to sleep (ugh, parents!). But, like any self-respecting gamer, as soon as she’s asleep it’s back on with the TV and back to the game. This is where it gets interesting — encountering certain obstacles in the game-within-the-game will produce a loud sound effect, waking up mom and, of course, getting you in deep trouble. But if you’re quick, you can grab the remote and turn the TV off before she arrives, giving you another precious shot at the level. If you played 1989, you might already know about the gameplay twist that comes along once you beat the stage’s boss. If you haven’t, I won’t spoil it here (play Pixel Ripped 1989 now — it’s great). Snappy writing and clever homages will get a chuckle from longtime gamers (“If the turkeys in these walls could talk…”) and the presentation of Pixel Ripped 1995’s surprisingly tight side-scrolling gameplay puts this one near the top of my “games to watch” list for 2020. Space Channel 5 Kinda Funky News Flash! Spring 2020 Strike a pose with the iconic Ulala in this flashback to those halcyon Sega Dreamcast days. This VR follow up by Grounding. Inc. focuses on what the series is best known for – striking stylish poses to out-dance nasty invaders. With PS VR, you can now look down to see yourself dressed in an intergalactically outrageous costume. As I wielded two PS Move controllers, Ulala showed me the ropes of broadcast dancing. It took a few minutes for me to knock the rust out of my joints and loosen up to the game’s extravagant style, but once I was there I had a grin plastered on my face. Ducking, leaning, reaching up or down, and other key poses are the name of the game. I also hold Ulala personally responsible for making me dab in front of coworkers… These moves come in handy when confronting troupes of boogying aliens. Poses conveniently sync up so that you end up dodging enemy laser blasts. It’s a satisfying effect, especially when combined with a pleasant “ding” indicating you dodged perfectly. My favorite touch was striking a poke with my arms outstretched and blasting hand-lasers at enemies. Ulala’s return is just as funky and fresh as ever, and a great way to get the blood pumping. The dancing invaders touch down next spring. View the full article

Debris is a different take on narrative co-op that’s focused on one thing: getting two people in separate realities to trust each other. Have you ever played a co-op game with someone and found it difficult to communicate? Not because of lag or a bad connection, but because it was really hard to know what the other player was experiencing at any given moment? You die because your teammate was looking the wrong way? You run right into a trap that everyone else avoided but didn’t warn you about? You lose the round because someone wasn’t looking at the clock? How could you not hear the countdown? How could you not know?! It’s easy to take for granted the ability to sync up. Our interactions with others usually happen in a mutually understood context, in a shared reality. Games have always given us the ability to generate new realities. Online multiplayer lets us share them with anyone, anywhere. But multiplayer is usually focused on one thing: synchronization. Fast, reliable servers. Efficient netcode. Lag compensation. All of it’s designed to simulate the feeling of being in a shared, seamless reality. Unfortunately, reality isn’t seamless. Not in games, and not in the real world. Experiencing a break from reality is all too common, and is most commonly known as psychosis. Like in the groundbreaking Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Debris uses a fantastic setting to portray someone suffering from psychosis in a serious and sympathetic way. The entire game was developed in close collaboration with Dr. Suzanne Archie (Clinical Director, Cleghorn Early Intervention in Psychosis Program, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton) and Dr. Manuela Ferrari (Research Associate, Douglas Mental Health University Institute). Production was also supervised by an amazing Advisory Committee of local community leaders and mental health experts. Like most illnesses, there isn’t only one type of psychosis. In Debris, the details of your psychotic experience change depending on choices and events: hallucinations, voices, and overarching delusions. Psychosis sufferers can endure manic or depressive symptoms. They may deal with systematic delusions of grandeur or persecution that seem to connect everything into one grand, conspiratorial idea. In Debris, the entire plot hinges on how the characters react to the terrors of the surreal seascape locked between ice and rock. Because in Debris, you’re not alone. It won’t be easy to get back to the surface, but with compassion, trust, and a lot of bravery, you and your partner can survive. In co-op, you’ll need to work together to overcome significant obstacles. Slowly, you’ll find that your shared reality begins to diverge, as if life isn’t already hard enough. But who can you trust? And beyond trust, what can you do? You’re still separated from your partner. You’re stuck at the bottom of a network of ice caves full of mysterious creatures, suspiciously high-tech equipment, and minimal resources. Debris was designed for you to find a way to survive together, because it is possible. It may require you to synchronize — to communicate — in an entirely different way. View the full article

Get ready to experience South America’s biggest club tournament. The CONMEBOL Libertadores is coming exclusively to FIFA 20 as a free content update* next year. In addition, you’ll also be able to play CONMEBOL’s other South American club tournaments – the CONMEBOL Sudamericana and CONMEBOL Recopa – as well as when the content update drops next March. What the update will include You’ll be able to play with clubs from Uruguay, Perú, Paraguay, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina and beyond at the pinnacle of South American club football. Lead historic South American teams like River Plate, Boca Juniors, Flamengo, Corinthians, Racing, Indepentiente U. Católica and Colo-Colo and follow in the footsteps of stars like Vinícius Jr. and Kaká through the heated competition of CONMEBOL Libertadores, CONMEBOL Sudamericana and CONMEBOL Recopa. Whether you play FIFA Ultimate Team, Career Mode, Kick-Off, or the new CONMEBOL Libertadores Tournament Mode,you’ll feel the weight of a continent’s obsession in time for the kick-off of the 2020 tournament’s Group Stage in March. *CONMEBOL Libertadores content available for download on March 2020. Requires FIFA 20 for PS4 (sold separately), all game updates and an internet connection. View the full article

The time has come! 56 of the best Gran Turismo drivers from 19 countries will put everything on the line this week in Monaco to become the Nations Cup and Manufacturer Series Final World Champions. The Gran Turismo Championship World Finals Events will start this Friday, where the six-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and Gran Turismo series creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, will be making a special announcement for an upcoming PlayStation Store DLC for Gran Turismo Sport. Following the announcement, Lewis Hamilton will also be participating in the Pro Am race where he will be teamed-up with a GT Competitor racing against a team of special guests and media drivers. The battle for first place will continue throughout Saturday and Sunday (November 23 and 24) as the world’s fastest Gran Turismo drivers compete in the Manufacturer Series and Nations Cup Finals through a series of highly competitive races where valuable points are earned. For the Manufacturer Series, the top 12 manufacturers chosen based on results of the 2019 Manufacturer Series will compete in teams of three. There will be three races – Race 1, Race 2, and a Grand Final with the final result determined based on the total number of points from all three races. In Nations Cup, 24 competitors each of whom qualified based on results from each of the 2019 Series World Championships will compete in a three-day tournament, including Qualifying, Semi-Final, Repechage, and Grand Final. Adding to the competitive tension at the Monaco 2019 Series World Finals this weekend is the introduction of the legendary Laguna Seca Raceway. Tucked away in one of the most picturesque regions of America’s west coast, Laguna Seca Raceway is located about 190 km south of San Francisco in the state of California. The historic track was founded officially in 1957, but its roots are firmly embedded in the Pebble Beach Road Races that began in 1950. It has hosted everything from IndyCar races to the World Superbike Championships, and features the most famous S-curve in the world: the Corkscrew. While this circuit is nothing new to Gran Turismo drivers, this would be the first time Laguna Seca Raceway is appearing in GT Sport, so get ready to witness some epic racing this weekend as they world’s best Gran Turismo drivers will be battling each other on this legendary track for the first time. In addition to an exciting weekend of intense racing and announcements, two new Gran Turismo partnership vehicles will be unveiled through the live stream: Mazda will release images of the Mazda RX-VISION GT3 Concept, joining the FIA Gran Turismo Championships from 2020! Lamborghini will be unveiling the Lamborghini Vision Gran Turismo full scale vehicle. In case you’ve missed it, here’s the teaser video that was released earlier in the week. Where can I see the action? You can catch the race live at the following times: Friday, November
 22, 9AM to 11AM PST: Nations Cup: Qualifying Races Saturday, November 23, 9AM to 11AM PST: Manufacturer Series World Finals Sunday, November 24, 9AM to 11AM PST: Nations Cup World Finals Link to the live stream with commentary for your respective languages and details including the tournament structure + race formats can be found at: https://www.gran-turismo.com/world/gtsport/worldtour2019/monaco/ View the full article

As a former game journalist, working on Warframe has been an eye-opening experience into the development of a living game. Warframe is in constant motion. This six-year-old games-as-a-service title cycles through constant expansion, re-tooling, balances, re-balances, engine overhauls, complete teardowns, you name it. With Update 26, The Old Blood — our fourth significant update this year — we’re inventing something entirely new by debuting the treacherous, immortal villain, the Kuva Lich (basically, an all-new game system); building a new character with the insatiable wrecking ball of a Warframe, Grendel (the fourth new Warframe in 2019), and layering in new ways to fight by implementing an updated combat system with Melee Changes: Phase 2. For years, Digital Extremes’ development team has talked about infusing a new, ongoing threat into Warframe, referencing a “Kingpin” or “Nemesis” system. The idea being players would face off against a persistent enemy who poses a growing threat to their in-game existence. In a matter of days, PS4 players will have the chance to create their own bond with this new foe. “Open zones were a leap for Warframe, and Kuva Liches are another,” says Community Coordinator Helen Heikkila. “The enemy now haunts the player. Lore becomes all the richer when enemies traverse and conquer the Origin System just as Tenno do. Tenno created this new threat and must watch its influence spread like a stain. It’s up to them to decide how it ends.” To start their “relationship,” Tenno must hunt down a Grineer soldier spiked with Kuva (a mysterious red fluid coveted by Grineer Queens). By landing a killing blow, the Grineer soldier’s death triggers rebirth. In his or her regeneration, these Grineer return stronger, acquiring the specific Ability players used against them, gaining followers (i.e. soldiers), and developing even greater powers. These aren’t just ordinary enemies. Each time a Tenno beats this soldier, the Kuva Lich is assigned a randomly horrific (and sometimes funny) name, like Ogg Horr, Corelikk Airee, or even Gitt Bakk, like that one Beatles song. They have personalities. They deliver quippy dialog to tease and coax players into their next confrontation. They’re given weaknesses, resistances, weapon types, weapon bonuses, their progenitor, a birthplace, and even personality quirks, like cowardice, bloodhound and paranoid qualities, which show up on their profile page. Megan Everett, Warframe’s Community Manager, believes Kuva Liches bring both new thrills and new anxieties to the game. “I’m always looking around every corner just waiting for my beloved Codokon Gakk to pop in,” she says. “It brings the same excitement of the light flickering Stalker but with a splash of brilliantly written taunts and oh-so-satisfying finisher animations. The possibilities with the Kuva Lich system are vast, so I can’t wait for possibly another Kuva Lich faction (and its 15 friends) to come knocking on my Orbiter door.” Heikkila agrees, adding: “We’ve always had complicated relationships with enemies in Warframe, but there’s a unique appeal in knowing this enemy isn’t coming for the Tenno; it’s coming for you.” Then there’s Grendel. Strangely reminiscent of a sumo wrestler in heft and stance, Grendel is born with the ability to inhale and spit out enemies as acidic projectiles. The 42nd Warframe, and the fourth this year (following Wisp, Hildryn, and Gauss), Grendel barrels in to feast on the cruel and corrupted with Abilities such as Feast (eat an enemy or enemies, then spit them out covered in toxic bile); Nourish (take consumed enemies and nourish nearby squad members with a radial buff); Regurgitate (puke bile-soaked enemies as toxic projectiles); and Pulverize (after feeding, Grendel curls into a ball and sends any enemies in his path flying). Despite his fearsome appearance, Grendel is a noble spirit whose generosity is matched only by his insatiable hunger. And he’s kind of funny. “I’m a big fan of the humor in Grendel,” says Everett. “He’s literally an insatiable pit with the urge to roll around and regurgitate. With an abundance of Warframes to choose from, it’s nice to get a little silly. Grendel can definitely hold his own amongst his enemies, but I’ll never stop smiling at the sight of my regurgitated enemies displayed before me.” “The aspect of Warframe I enjoy most is uncovering each Warframe’s unique personality, and Grendel’s is my favorite so far,” says Heikkila. “Things like the Sound Team’s decision to make Grendel subtly say yum after ingesting an enemy adds a lot to the immersion for me. He’s also as tanky as he looks, with a unique self-heal ability I really like. Nothing beats curling into a ball to topple enemies like bowling pins and then opening your entire stomach to feast on them. Yum.” Last but not least is the heavily updated combat system. Called “Melee Changes: Phase 2,” this next phase brings devastating new combat techniques like heavy attacks and juggle-inducing melee attacks, smoother combos, re-balances, and the return of manual blocking, to name a few. One of our favorites is the mid-air madness created by some melee attacks. Feel like pulverizing an enemy in midair? Send them up and actualize your airborne space ninja dreams! There’s more, too — new Vauban and Ember reworks, Titania Empress, new Tenno Reinforcements like the Grendel Collection, and our community favorite, the Vasca Kavat, a vampiric space cat you can make into your pet! Whether you’re new to Warframe or an old hand, I reckon you’ll be surprised, delighted, and hopefully humored by The Old Blood. Look for it to hit PS4 very, very soon and let us know what you think below. View the full article

Hello, my name is James Hunt. I am the Creative Lead on the new title from us at Fast Travel Games; a heartwarming, interactive tale made for PlayStation VR called The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets. Our studio was founded in 2016 by former creators of franchises such as Battlefield, Mirror’s Edge, and Angry Birds, and we have since then released Apex Construct on PS VR. The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets is something completely different from our debut title, however… Imagine that you have a miniature world in front of you — a detailed world full of colorful life and immersive interactive elements. Imagine engaging with these worlds simply by using your intuition, free from stress or fail states. A game that can be accessed and enjoyed by anyone, regardless of age or gaming preferences. This was the mission we set as we developed this game. It has been a true passion project, and I am so excited for it to finally launch today for PS VR! In The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets, you’ll help your grandfather solve the mystery of the stolen pets by travelling back to your childhood and the imaginary worlds you created together. While solving puzzles and finding pets by using your hands to grip, spin, drop and push the elements of each world, you’ll embark on an emotional journey where you come to realize things about yourself you forgot decades ago. The narrative plays a big role in this game, spanning five unique worlds and allowing you to revisit a joyful past but also to resolve a family conflict. Between worlds, you return to your childhood bedroom where you choose which world to travel to next. This September, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets was chosen as Best Immersive Game at Raindance Film Festival. It was a surprising but wonderful sensation to win an award for my first title as Creative Lead, especially considering the other great titles in the award category. One of the judges said that he ”…fell in love with The Curious Tale – from the art style to the music, it really showcases the best of what VR has to offer.” I am also extremely excited to have music from Wintergatan featured in The Curious Tale. Wintergatan became world-renowned after creating the Marble Machine, a musical instrument consisting of 2,000 marbles. I’m a huge fan of their music and it fits perfectly with the theme of the game. On PS VR, The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets can be played using one or two PS Move controllers, or a DualShock 4 controller. It has localized subtitles for Spanish (main & LATAM versions), French, German, Russian, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean & Brazilian Portuguese. And it launches today at PlayStation Store! I could not be prouder of this game or of the small, dedicated team that created it, and I simply cannot wait to see the reactions as PS VR players around the world start exploring the miniature worlds we created! View the full article

The season for giving is almost here! To help you get ready, here’s a round-up of PlayStation deals being offered for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, from November 24 to December 2 (November 28 to December 6 in Canada). Join the PlayStation family and experience the epic gameplay moments on a new PS4 or PlayStation VR bundle. Starting in the US on November 24th, we’re releasing a special Black Friday PS4 bundle that comes with three of the biggest PS4 hit games. We’re also pleased to introduce a new PS VR Mega Pack bundle in North America during Black Friday, which includes five immersive PS VR games to get you into the world of virtual reality. Here’s a quick look at our Black Friday offerings. Be sure to check your local retailers for more information: Only on PlayStation PS4 Bundle for $199.99 (MSRP) / $249.99 CAD (MSRP). Featuring a 1TB PS4 system and three award-winning titles, The Last of Us: Remastered, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition. While supplies last PlayStation 4 Pro for $299.99 (MSRP)/ $369.99 CAD (MSRP), regularly $399.99 (MSRP) / $499.99 CAD PS VR Multi-game Bundle for $199.99 (MSRP) / $319.99 CAD (MSRP), regularly $299.99 (MSRP) and $449.99 CAD (MSRP). Features a PS VR Headset, a PS Camera and vouchers to download five PS VR titles: Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Skyrim VR, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Everybody’s Golf VR, and PlayStation VR Worlds PS VR Blood & Truth + Everybody’s Golf Bundle for $249.99 (MSRP) / $249.99 CAD (MSRP), regularly $349.99 (MSRP) / $379.99 CAD (MSRP). Features a PS VR Headset, a PS Camera, two PS Move controllers, and two popular PS VR titles: Blood & Truth and Everybody’s Golf VR PS Gold Headset for $69.99 (MSRP) / $89.99 CAD (MSRP) in all available colors, regularly $99.99 (MSRP) / $119.99 CAD (MSRP) DualShock 4 wireless controller for $39.99 (MSRP) / $49.99 CAD (MSRP) in all colors, regularly $64.99 USD (MSRP) / $74.99 CAD (MSRP) 25% off a PlayStation Plus yearly subscription, available 11/22 – 12/2* Select PlayStation exclusive games for $19.99 (MSRP) / $29.99 CAD (MSRP), including Days Gone, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Game of the Year Edition, MediEvil, Concrete Genie, and MLB The Show 19 PlayStation Hits games for $9.99 (MSRP) / $9.99 CAD (MSRP), regularly $19.99 (MSRP) / $19.99 CAD For more details, visit our Black Friday page at PlayStation.com. Thank you to the PlayStation community for your unwavering support! We hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and happy gaming! *Unless canceled, a new subscription will be automatically renewed and your digital wallet deducted every three months. View the full article

Get ready to rule the ring with Street Fighter V: Champion Edition! This action-packed new version was just announced for PlayStation 4 and includes all content (excluding Fighting Chance costumes, brand collaboration costumes and Capcom Pro Tour DLC) from both the original release and Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. It also includes each character, stage and costume that released after Arcade Edition and that will release with Champion Edition. With 40 characters, 34 stages and over 200 costumes, Champion Edition is the most robust version of Street Fighter V yet! Street Fighter V: Champion Edition will be available physically and digitally on PS4 for MSRP $29.99 beginning on February 14, 2020. Anyone who pre-orders Champion Edition on PS4 in North America (other territories may vary) will receive a static theme (digital purchase only) and a fierce-looking new costume color for each character. For current owners of any version of Street Fighter V, an Upgrade Kit for MSRP $24.99 grants you instant access to all available Champion Edition content as it becomes available leading up to the launch date. As always, all game mode additions and balance updates are free for owners of any Street Fighter V version. In fact, all-new V-Skills (V-Skill II) are being added for each character and, along with a new balance update, will be available for free to current players in December. All DLC characters can still be purchased separately or earned free-of-charge by completing various in-game challenges and receiving Fight Money. Gill Champion Edition also heralds the return of Gill, a master of both Pyrokinesis and Cryokinesis who is able to control fire and ice with perfect elemental balance (hence his outward appearance). All of his heavy normal attacks, and all but one of his special moves, have an elemental alignment. When Gill throws out a fierce punch, it’ll be engulfed in flames, and when he lets fly with a standing roundhouse, it’ll hit opponents with a frozen force. Gill is ready to reveal himself to the world as part of Street Fighter V: Champion Edition on February 14, 2020, or he can be acquired separately starting in December for MSRP $5.99 or 100,000 Fight Money. Happy holidays and enjoy the street fights! View the full article

Yu Suzuki’s legendary open-world RPG series makes its long-awaited return in Shenmue III, out Tuesday for PS4. Catch up with our hero Ryo in his ongoing quest to track down his father’s killer. But hey, no rush — there’s a whole world to explore (and minigames to play). Espire 1: VR Operative puts you in control of a sophisticated espionage bot, letting players live out their stealth action dreams in the immersive world of virtual reality. Use high-tech gadgets and weapons to proceed unseen — or procure enemies weapons and take a more obvious approach. Finally, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI comes to PS4 on Friday, giving PS players a chance to get hooked on the long-running, generation-spanning strategy RPG. Just one more turn… For a full list of new games coming to PlayStation next week, read on. And enjoy The Drop! The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets PS VR — Digital Experience an interactive tale of childlike wonder! Help your grandfather solve the mystery of the stolen pets by exploring wonderful miniature worlds crafted from the ground up for VR. Use a hairdryer to melt snow in a wintery landscape! Search the wreck of a pirate ship partially hidden under the surface! Every world is unique, full of interactions and colorful life. Debris PS4 — Digital (Out 11/22) An atmospheric first-person narrative adventure set in a surreal seascape locked between ice and rock. Following an incident, you and a friend must find power, defeat strange and deadly creatures, and decipher what mysterious forces are attempting to prevent your escape. Escape together or die alone. Deemo -Reborn- PS4, PS VR — Digital (Out 11/21) Rayark’s classic game Deemo is reborn on the PS4 console with a brand-new look. Having both TV/VR mode, this title allows you to immerse in the fantastical music performances and adventurous world explorations. Espire 1: VR Operative PS VR — Digital The definitive VR stealth experience, Espire 1: VR Operative drafts players as drone operators of the future. Players become “Espire Agents” and use cutting edge Virtual Reality hardware to remote-operate the Espire model 1 from the safety of their “Control Theatre.” Farmer’s Dynasty PS4 — Digital (Out 11/21) More than just an agricultural simulation: in Farmer’s Dynasty, you have to rebuild your farm and develop your heritage, start a family, handle your relationships and, of course, manage your crops to prosper. Develop your farm, your life, your family. Experience the life of a real farmer. Cultivate your fields. Lost Ember PS4 — Digital (Out 11/22) A breathtakingly beautiful world holds the secrets of its past for you and your companion to uncover. Play any animal you meet to see the world from new perspectives and chase your destiny in the exploration adventure Lost Ember. Mountain Rescue Simulator PS4 — Digital (Out 11/21) When danger calls – it’s down to you become a lifesaver in Mountain Rescue Simulator! Now you and your team are in demand! Use your special vehicles such as helicopters, quad bikes or snow cat to rescue people. Take care of broken bones or rescue lost hikers! Find and rescue mountaineers and skiers! Munchkin PS4 — Digital (Out 11/19) Dive into Munchkin: Quacked Quest and re-discover the parody, puns, and humor from the hit card game Munchkin by Steve Jackson. Gather gold, throw your foes (and friends) into sacrifice pits, collect ducks, eliminate the monsters, and reach the highest level to win the game! Narcos: Rise of the Cartels PS4 — Digital Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is a brutal turn-based action strategy game based on the hit Netflix TV series. Explore the entire first season from two sides each with their own unique story. Join the narcos and expand the drug cartel empire, or take up arms with the DEA and bring it crumbling down. Shenmue III PS4 — Digital, Retail Journey deep into rural China as you take on the role of Ryo Hazuki, a Japanese teenager hellbent on finding his father’s killer—a story of adventure, mystery, friendship, martial arts, and ultimately, revenge! Sid Meier’s Civilization VI PS4 — Digital, Retail (Out 11/22) Explore a new land, research technology, conquer your enemies, and go head-to-head with history’s most renowned leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known. Civilization VI for PS4 includes the latest game updates and improvements, including four new civilizations, leaders, and scenarios. Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts PS4 — Digital, Retail (Out 11/22) Experience pure sniper gameplay across the harsh terrain of Siberia in a brand new contracts-based system that encourages strategic thinking, playing as a silent assassin within engaging, redeployable missions. Stretch PS4 — Digital (Out 11/22) Stretch Arcade is a retro style reaction time trainer for all skill levels. The Mandalorian: Chapter One (Original Score) Hootie & The Blowfish: Game. On. Takeover Def Jam Recordings 35th Anniversary It: Chapter Two Wilder vs. Ortiz II Ballers | Complete Series The information above is subject to change without notice. View the full article

Calling all badass vikings, fans of good music, sarcastic weapons masters, and elite agents: It’s time to play Smite, Paladins, and Rogue Company. Hi-Rez Studios’ annual fan gathering is now underway in Atlanta, Georgia, and we’ve just announced a ton of amazing new content coming to the godly action MOBA Smite and the fantasy team-based shooter Paladins. Plus: We’ve finally lifted the veil on our upcoming title, the high action, tactically minded, third-person shooter Rogue Company. Want to learn more? Read on for all the massive news from Hi-Rez Expo. More than 106 Gods of mythology already wage war in Smite, but God 107 is a true milestone for Smite. Enter: Heimdallr, The Vigilant, a Norse god beyond compare who can smash his foes so hard they’re literally banished to another dimension. As you can see in the trailer above, Heimdallr, throws massive axes at his foes — an all new attack type for a Hunter in Smite. And like all Smite gods, Heimdallr is true to his mythological roots. When you play as Heimdallr, you’ll rock your foes with his legendary Gjallarhorn, traverse the world with magical bifrost, and swing his epic sword. Can’t wait to play as Heimdallr? He’ll be available in Smite next month! Even better: Like all 106 other Smite gods, Heimdallr will be included in the Ultimate God Pack. Heimdallr is the first of six announced new gods planned for Smite over the coming year. These deities hail from a variety of mythologies. Some pantheons will be all-new to Smite, while others will be long-requested fan favorites — including the wicked witch Baba Yaga! Smite Season 7 kicks off in January with a ton of new content, including a new map for the most popular mode on PS4: Joust. This 3v3 battleground is reimagined in a dark, Chinese mythology-inspired style, with magical jade corrupting the once-pristine landscape. This new map also adds additional jungle camps and expands the layout of the current Joust map, creating more tactical options. Can’t wait for all the good stuff? Well, starting today we’re pleased to announce that you’ll be able to enjoy Red Bull Records recording artists AWOLNATION and Beartooth in Smite! Each artist has contributed a new music pack for Smite, comprised of some of their most popular songs. You’ll also be able to show off your fandom with some new themed cosmetics for each band. And if you’re a fan of animation, don’t miss out on Smite’s new Battle Pass: The huntresses of RWBY have invaded the Battleground of the Gods! This divine crossover lets you play as Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long, facing off with the gods of mythology. You’ll also enjoy announcer packs from the real voice actors, a Zwei ward skin, and so much more. Banzai! Rogue Company Gear up. Dive in. Rogue Company is coming. This action tactical shooter is the newest game from Hi-Rez Studios, developed by First Watch Games. Industry veterans have banded together to create a thrilling world of shadow governments, mercenary organizations, and electrifying, competitive shooter combat for all players. Video to come – stay tuned! The fast-paced, objective based gameplay of Rogue Company carves out a new niche in the world of shooters. You’ll skydive into diverse battlegrounds from across the globe, and face off in round-based combat. Rogue Company will host a variety of 2v2 and 4v4 game modes for all skill levels. Choose from a number of different elite operatives with their own unique loadout. Unleash game-changing abilities and gadgets, but live or die by your shooting skills. Between rounds, unlock new weapons, upgrade perks, or purchase gadgets to augment your playstyle. The first wave of Rogue Company alpha keys are arriving soon. Visit RogueCompany.com and register for your chance to be one of the first to dive into this action-packed multiplayer shooter. Last, but far from least: Paladins. The Magistrate and the resistance have waged an epic war throughout 2019. They’ve battled to the Shattered Desert in search of otherworldly power. They’ve seen the arrival of a celestial goddess. And they’ve summoned a demon from the Abyss itself, Paladins’ newest Champion, Raum, who is available now! Who can stop Raum? None but the legendary weapons master Tiberius, a ferocious Tigron who wields both Chakrams and a massive heavy blade to showcase his superiority in battle. Whatever Tiberius does, this Damage Champion does with style. His wit and sarcasm ring through the battlefield as he effortlessly bounces glaives to slay foes, or magically recalls his sword, slicing enemies in the way. Tiberius releases in early January, 2020, kicking off a Season 3 of Paladins that promises more of what its community wants: exciting Champions, quality Battle Passes, and collaboration with our community to offer the most polished updates possible. Tiberius will be the first of four new Champions to release in 2020, representing all four classes in Paladins, and building on Paladins’ massive roster of 43 Champions live today. Paladins is dedicating its first Battle Pass of 2020 to its community. The Community Battle Pass includes Dark Monarch Lian, Monkey King Talus, Soul Briar Grover, and Ska’Drin Ash, each concepts created by our community members. This will be the first of six planned Battle Passes for 2020, each with a unique and exciting theme. To the fans of Paladins and Smite, and to the soon-to-be fans of Rogue Company: Thank you. Hi-Rez Studios does what we do because of you. Thank you for the hours you’ve chosen to spend with us in 2019, completing the Odyssey or cursing Persephone in Smite, catching some sun in the Shore Patrol Battle Pass or controlling the moon as Io in Paladins. You are what makes Hi-Rez Studios and its communities so special. And if you’d like to represent your community and help guide the development of Smite or Paladins, applications are open now for the 2020 term of our player-elected councils: the Smite Olympians and the Paladins Assembly of Champions. Here’s to a 2020 full of incredible moments in Smite and Paladins, and we can’t wait for you to try Rogue Company for the first time. View the full article

My name is Emily Mitchell and I’m the creator of Fractured Minds, which releases today on PlayStation 4. I developed mental health issues from my early teens and if you are reading this, you may have also suffered similar experiences or know someone who has or is still suffering. I don’t think the feelings ever truly go away and we all have to find ways of coping. In my case, I turned to gaming, where there can be a real community feel and sense of togetherness. I developed a very close-knit group of friends through our love of gaming, and we continue to support each other through the trials of life. My school years consisted of trying to deal with the extreme anxiety of attending classes, even the IT classes, but luckily, our first term was games programming and that’s where the start of my journey really began. After working on a small game, my sister came up with the idea of entering the BAFTA young games designers’ competition. At first, I thought the idea was crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I wanted to create a game that highlighted mental illness. A game where each level depicts a certain aspect of mental health that was personal to me. And that is how ‘Fractured Minds’ was born. It took me around nine months to make as I had to create all of the models and textures myself while I worked on it after school and in my free time. I actually submitted it into the competition about 20 minutes before the cutoff time — imagine finding a bug 25 minutes before it’s due and thinking okay… I have five minutes to fix this! That was definitely in the top most stressful 5 minutes of my life. On my 17th birthday, I found out that I had reached the top ten in the BAFTA Awards and I had to attend an award ceremony. This was getting scary! What have I done? Audience, cameras, filming, awards, travel to London, people, panic… aggghhhh. On the morning of the ceremony I had a massive panic attack at the train station. Luckily my sister was there to pull me through and I eventually arrived, barely able to breathe. Incredibly, I won, and my worst day ever turned into my best. Amazing, and now this part of the journey was about to come to an end. But no! Incredibly, I was contacted by Wired Productions, who were working within the games industry to start a global charity designed to bring awareness of mental health issues within the gaming community. They wanted to use Fractured Minds to help launch Safe in Our World, and I thought that was a brilliant idea. This has now given me the opportunity to share my experience with so many more people and I couldn’t be more excited! At the beginning of this story I mentioned how my gaming friends were so important to me when dealing with my anxiety. I passionately hope that this charity can encourage more empathy, understanding and support of mental health issues within the gaming community. I hope you’ll consider playing Fractured Minds, to share in my journey. By buying the game you’ll support Safe in our World and hopefully help others know that they are not alone. View the full article

Email us at blogcast@sony.com! Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here Don’t forget to Like… structures left by fellow Porters throughout the world of Death Stranding! This week, the gang continues their DS discussion and runs down some upcoming PS VR titles they got a chance to go eyes-on with. Plus, an interview with Agharta Studio about PS VR’s upcoming Stardust Odyssey! Stuff We Talked About Death Stranding PlayStation VR Stardust Odyssey The Room VR Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash Pixel Ripped 1995 Audica The Cast Justin Massongill – Social Media Manager, SIEA Kristen Zitani – Social Media Specialist, SIEA Tim Turi – Senior Social Media Specialist, SIEA Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. [Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.] View the full article

Facepunch and Double Eleven have today announced that the hugely popular online survival game Rust will be released on PlayStation 4 next year. We found some time to speak to Facepunch chief Garry Newman and pick his brain about Rust and what the announcement means for players. Rust already has a huge following on PC. Why do you think players have connected with the game so much? Rust is a harsh survival game. A dumb move and you can lose hours, days, weeks or progress. A smart move and you can advance your position on the island by weeks. It’s a game of huge risks and huge rewards. When you start out you’re going to be the underdog. You have a rock and everyone else seemingly has an AK. You need to work your way up. This isn’t a linear path. You could find a fully loaded corpse and springboard from there. You could find a quiet part of the island to create a base and build up to that. You could get some friends and work together to rule the whole island. I think this is why it’s so popular. Every time you die you want revenge, you want to try a different strategy. What were your main inspirations when originally designing Rust’s brutal world? When Stalker was first announced we were really excited for the world they described. A real living world where things happen when you’re not there. Skirmishes happening miles away, animals going about their business, lots of unexplained stuff, radioactive areas of great interest. That world was a huge interest to us. We’re also huge FPS players, so the obvious stuff like Call of Duty, Counter-Strike and Battlefield. Players have been asking for a console release for a while now. Why did you make the decision to release Rust in 2020? We’ve been working on Rust on PC since 2013 in Early Access. While it was in early access we felt we had a promise to fulfill for everyone that supported us, so PC was our main priority. We came out of early access in 2018, so at that point we felt we could start looking at the console version, but at the same time it isn’t something we wanted to rush out. What are the key things you want to focus on when releasing a game like Rust on console? Rust is the best survival game on PC. That’s not marketing speak, it’s a scientifically provable fact. So our priority is making Rust the best survival game on Console too. We’ve already got the main ingredient for that: the game itself. So the only thing we have to do to make Rust the best Console survival game is avoid tripping over ourselves in terms of controls and performance. It’s particularly important to get those things perfect in a PVP game like Rust. Rust’s world doesn’t present you with an immediately obvious storyline, but the post-apocalyptic environment is littered with both American and Russian imagery and references– is there a hidden story there? Yeah we have a story, everything in the world has reason and meaning. We don’t share any of that directly because we want to avoid the Star Wars situation where we can’t do something without contradicting five story things. We’ve found this works well for our community, it awesome to see them explore and piece things together based on what they find. Part of the joy of Rust is finding or hosting a regular map to play on– will PlayStation players be able to rent their own servers? Definitely. It’s important for us to allow players to take ownership and configure their servers to their own preferences. What are you most looking forward to when Rust releases next year? Rust spawns a lot of stories. In other games you might be in a situation, a horse kicking an NPC in the face or something, but you know that everyone else has had that situation. Every Rust player I’ve ever spoken to in real life has these stories. A guy once told me a story about how he fell down a pit with no way to get out. So he had this situation where he had to throw all his guns, clothes, and ammo one by one up in the air for his squad mate to catch and keep safe for him. He was laughing so hard telling the story that he had tears in his eyes. I’m looking forward to hearing a lot more of these stories. At family parties. While I’m trying to eat. View the full article

Hi, PlayStation fans! We’re excited to announce that Sparklite is finally launching on PS4 today, after four difficult years. Being indie is a dream many game developers aspire to and, not taking that for granted, we want to share how our studio managed to get Sparklite over the finish line. As an indie developer, we could set our own priorities, like choosing fun over a deadline, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t have any constraints. The most pressing constraint is obviously money. Keeping Red Blue solvent for over four years has been due to a mix of support from family, frugal living, fortunate contract gigs, and, most recently, help from a publisher. Since Red Blue began we have had working spouses who are willing to live cheap and have access to healthcare benefits. Connections with former co-workers also yielded contract gigs that brought in revenue at critical points in development. Breaks like these have made us appreciate our good fortunes and relationships. But speaking of our spouses, we also knew that with kids right around the corner, this might be our best chance to commit ourselves to developing a title. If we had one shot it should be a game we have always wanted to make. A game we would regret not taking a chance on. We chose a retro-inspired action adventure as our genre but also wanted to incorporate some modern design. The original plan was to do an art style that we could achieve in-house, but once we hired a professional pixel artist to mock up the style, we knew we’d need to hire some artists. Early Mockup of Sparklite by Anders Gullmarsvik Growing the Studio Putting together the team that worked on Sparklite has been a mix of good luck and good relationships. We found all of our artists from the amazing pixel art community on Twitter. We compiled lists of artists we liked while following #pixeldailies, and found several that we really clicked with after doing some trial work together. In many ways, this was yet another stroke of luck since we really did not do a lot of vetting in terms of team compatibility. At a few points, we’ve needed to pull in some trusted programmers, particularly for porting. This was yet another time where good connections helped us out. We didn’t need to search for or interview anyone. They are also extremely talented, so the quality of work we got from them was as good as — if not better than — what we could have done on our own. At its biggest, Sparklite had a team of two designers, four programmers, and two pixel artists. At its smallest, it was just two. It’s made it hard to answer questions like “how many people work on Sparklite?” and “how long has it taken to make the game?” The Finish Line The last big stroke of luck that we need to highlight was landing a deal with our publisher, Merge Games. We ran into them while attending PAX East in 2018 as one of the Indie Megabooth participants. They offered to help bring Sparklite to all consoles, including retail, which would allow us to reach many more players than we could have on our own. Without going into a big discussion regarding what “being indie” really means, it was clear to us that the partnership would help us make Sparklite a better game and reach more players without compromising on the game’s design. Without a doubt, the greatest advantage we’ve had over these last four years is the resilience that comes from having strong professional and personal relationships. When we needed contract work, we had contacts who could help out. When we needed programming help, we had friends willing to step in. When we needed more time on the project, our spouses were willing to endure months and years more on a frugal gamedev budget. Maybe it’s not a coincidence then that one of the things we wanted to highlight in Sparklite are the friendships that the protagonist, Ada, relies on in her adventure. The townspeople who help her up when she falls give her the resilience she needs to carry on. Gamedev is also an adventure of its own and we’re so grateful to have had the support and good fortune to be able to bring Sparklite to life. View the full article

There’s a reason why our studio is named “Highwire Games” and not “Beaten Path Interactive,” or “Incremental Entertainment.” We founded the studio in order to take the kind of risks that are not possible for huge teams with gigantic budgets. We are pleased to announce that Golem is finally out on PlayStation VR tomorrow. Here are just a few of the risks we took to bring this title to life. Risk #1 – An Open World VR Game The promise of virtual reality is that you will visit another world — but the current generation of tech is more suited to stationary gameplay and small environments. Streaming is difficult in VR and the technical investment was daunting, but as a result of that work Golem features an enormous city to explore. All without loading or interruption, allowing you to immerse yourself completely. And we’ve hidden weapons, treasures, artifacts and other collectibles everywhere, so exploration will be rewarded. Risk #2 – The Incline Control Scheme Good controls should not insert themselves between the game and the player, they should disappear from the process. You shouldn’t be thinking “I will press X to punch” but just “I will punch.” For us, the key to seamless controls in VR is your sense of proprioception; your awareness of your body and its position in the world. Golem’s Incline Controls allow you to move as you would naturally, by slightly leaning your body as if you were about to take a step and start walking… For Most Players: The Incline Control System is designed for maximum immersion and allows you to lose yourself in the world completely. The system is very sensitive; your movements should be subtle and not cause any strain, especially when played while seated as designed. The result is an intuitive control scheme that is often easier to understand for new players. For Sensitive Players: For those that are discomforted by movement in VR games, we have included as many comfort options as possible. Instant quick turns, a stationary scene in your peripheral vision, slower movement speeds — these options are all available by selecting “Comfort Mode” at the beginning of the game or can be turned on individually in the Options menu. Everyone’s reactions are different, so we encourage you to experiment and find the settings that work for you. For Power Players: On the other end of the spectrum are those of you that live in VR and want complete control. Rather than implement dozens of possible control schemes, we have chosen to include direct control over your movement via the left analog stick on your DualShock 4. It’s primarily for those that prioritize efficient and responsive input over immersion, but it is always on and available if you want to take a break from the Incline Controls as well. Risk #3 – Intense, Unforgiving Gameplay One option we did not include in Golem was a difficulty setting. There’s only one way to play, and at times it can be deceptively difficult. The one-to-one melee combat starts at a manageable speed, but by the end of the game you will face enemies that will test your reflexes and force you to perfect your skills. The weapon and artifacts you use to build a golem are lost if they are destroyed or abandoned, so each time you enter the city the stakes are high. Reaching the furthest districts takes an investment in time and equipment, all of which can be lost in a moment of inattention or over-reach. At times it may be frustrating — but exploring the gameplay space and your abilities is just as important as exploring the environment. Without the possibility of failure, there is no thrill of victory. Golem has been a challenging and rewarding project for us, and we hope you enjoy playing it as much as we have enjoyed making it! It’s available as a download, but if you purchase the physical Special Edition you will also receive a copy of “Echoes of the First Dreamer,” the musical prequel to Golem. View the full article

Blasting off into The Outer Worlds truly feels like visiting a new, quirky universe. The developers at Obsidian tapped into deep narrative roots to actualize a future where corporations rule the stars with cheesy slogans and shoddy products. Lead game directors, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, offer insights about bringing this immersive, humorous experience to life. PlayStation Blog: Why did Obsidian decide to frame society in Halcyon around all-encapsulating capitalism? Leonard Boyarsky: That came about as a reaction to Tim’s wanting to explore the inherent silliness of corporations and their desire to brand everything. Those initial sillier discussions led to us brainstorming what would happen if those same corporations were in complete control of a society. Which was decidedly not silly. PSB: From there, how did they decide on the types of schmuck companies? Did you start with Saltuna and work back from there or start from the concept of Spacer’s Choice and then decide the products? Tim Cain: The first company was Spacer’s Choice, which was a riff on Trucker’s Choice Pep Pills from The Simpsons. I imagined it as a company that made almost every type of product, but none of them were good. But they were cheap. After that, I created a rival company, which was Auntie Cleo’s, and they tried to differentiate themselves as better than everyone else. Other companies quickly followed based on the needs for certain products in the game, like C&P for food, Hammersmith for weapons (oddly enough, they sold no hammers), Brook & Olson for armor, and Rizzo’s for candy and soda. Every time I invented a company, I tried to imagine some rival companies, so Hammersmith had Aramid Ballistics, Joch, and T&L. Each company had something it was known for, like higher condition maximum or more mod slots. Something to make the player get an impression of what each brand was best at. PSB: What was the process like writing all the marketing slogans? Tim Cain: I wrote most of the slogans over a short period of time. I usually riffed on existing slogans (like “it’s near this complete breakfast” or “boarst pockets!”). Sometimes I liked to imagine how a nice-sounding slogan would end badly, such as “Tastes fresh because…” I thought of endings like “it’s full of preservatives” or “we inject it with ozone,” but I finally settled on the simple “it was.” I found that the simple slogans really made people laugh. PSB: How did you flesh out the religions of Scientism and Philosophism? Were there real world inspirations? Leonard Boyarsky: Scientism started with its name, yet another Simpsons’ reference (their official name, ‘The Order of Scientific Inquiry,’ came later). After settling on that, I began exploring what type of religion could be worthy of that name, and what type of purely materialistic religion the corporations might espouse as a way to remove everything spiritual from their workers’ lives. I’ve always been fascinated by Laplace’s demon, the idea that somehow the entirety of the universe could be divined if only we had enough information, so I worked that in as well in the guise of their ‘Universal Equation,’ their version of their ‘divine right’ to rule. The name Philosophism came from Theosophy, a turn of the century mystical philosophy/religion, which, except for their shared belief in a personal experience of God, is about where the similarities end. It was designed as a specific answer to Scientism’s ordered, deterministic ideology. We took aspects of various eastern religions and mashed them together to come up with something that was vague enough to be misinterpreted by many people in the colony and was also easy for the Board to turn into something to scare their workers with. It was also designed in such a way that there’d be an interesting gap between it and Scientism that could be filled in by Vicar Max’s spiritual quest. PSB: Describe how the team went about creating the game’s various companions. Leonard Boyarsky: With the exception of Ellie and Felix, we started with basic archetypes – the big game hunter, the disgruntled truth seeker, the naïve innocent, etc., and then we put our own spin on them. For Ellie and Felix, we just needed two temp companions who could talk to each other as they followed the player around for our vertical slice, but we liked them so much we decided to keep them. PSB: What’s the process for writing various companion interaction dialogues? Is there, say, a matrix of the different pairings and how they’ll interact or what topics will come up between them? Leonard Boyarsky: When we were establishing the companions’ personalities it became pretty obvious which NPCs they’d have issues with and which they’d agree with, including the other companions. Some of their interjections (like Nyoka’s Information Broker interactions) were planned out from the beginning, but many of them were second pass, with the writers running through conversations in-game and picking spots where their companions would naturally interject. PSB: What are your favorite companion combinations? Leonard Boyarsky: It’s hard to pick, I like them all for different reasons. Having been the main writer on Max, I’m partial to his pairings with the other companions. I love how they all shut him down whenever they get the chance. PSB: Which companion / NPC confrontations are your favorite? Leonard Boyarsky: Again, it’s hard to pick just one. In general, I really like the ones where the companions’ personalities and beliefs are revealed in a quick back and forth, like Felix with Anton, or Max with Graham. Or Ellie and her parents. Or Nyoka and everyone in Monarch. Or… PSB: Parvati is asexual. Tell us about writing romance for her character and why she was written in that direction. Leonard Boyarsky: That aspect of Parvati came from her original writer, Chris L’Etoile. After he left the project, she was taken over by Kate Dollarhyde, who continued to expand on those themes. There was no specific directive they were fulfilling; it all came from the characterization they wanted to explore for her. PSB: Who writes the emails and all the documents found throughout the world? Leonard Boyarsky: All the writers contributed to those. PSB: Was there a reason for keeping the Board faceless and mysterious for as long as possible? Leonard Boyarsky: It was partially by design, partially due to time constraints. The original idea was to limit exposure to them to make them feel more monolithic and impersonal, but a lot of the advertisements and news stories featuring the Chairman we did have planned throughout the game ended up getting cut. So they became even more faceless and mysterious. PSB: Which joke are you most proud of? Leonard Boyarsky: There are so many I love it’s hard to pick one. What I’m most proud of, however, is the positive reactions we’ve gotten for our humor overall. It’s impossible to guess how humor is (or isn’t) going to land, but it does feel like a lot of players are enjoying it. PSB: What is one hard-to-find, narrative-rich side quest that you really hope players find? Leonard Boyarsky: We’re not telling. The Outer Worlds is available on PS4 now. View the full article

In Trials of Mana, releasing on PS4 April 24, 2020, players will be able to strengthen their characters, not just by leveling up, but also by switching classes. New classes allow characters to learn new class strikes and magic spells. Each of our six protagonists can become proficient in a variety of attacks, depending on if they decide to pick the Light or Dark class. For example, when Duran chooses the Light path, he can become a Liege who can equip a shield and use healing magic together. With the Dark path, he becomes an unstoppable Duelist with a ton of attack power. In creating this full 3D remake, the development team knew we couldn’t just take the original pixel art from 24 years ago and stick it in the game. We’re proud to unveil some of the character class renders for you today. In translating the design from the original pixel art, to the full 3D models, we had to completely rethink how the classes looked and make sure that the designs fit the characters. Here, we have two classes to highlight – Riesz’s Valkyrie class, as well as Hawkeye’s Ninja class, with a few notes from Mana-series producer Masaru Oyamada: For Riesz, she has many classes based on Norse mythology, such as her third classes, Vanadis and Fenrir Knight. Her second Light class, Valkyrie, is no exception, and we wanted to depict her with a mighty and powerful Valkyrie design. In the 16-bit version of Trials of Mana, the class designs were directly tied to the weapon artwork. As such, we envisioned her equipped with the Valkyrie mail. In the original release, her Valkyrie class pixel art was characterized with a dark purple armor. However, in this game, we limited the purple to the shadows of the design. I think this also helped capture her prim and proper nature very well. For Hawkeye, his first Dark class brings an image of an assassin. However, his second class Ninja is more intermediary. As the game already has a traditional ninja design with the Nevarlan ninja forces, we limited the traditional Japanese-style feel, and went for a ninja design that incorporates more fantasy elements. Additionally, we wanted to make his second class design more of a low or mid-ranked ninja, since there is also a third class, Ninja Master. In the end, while incorporating the green from the original pixel art, I think the final design came out very Hawkeye-esque, looking very slim and cool! The team worked really hard to add in details and features fitting for each character in these upgraded models and are really happy with how they turned out! If you want to take a look at the rest of the class designs we revealed today, or learn more about the game, you can visit the class section of our official webpage. We hope you try out the game and test out all the various classes that are available when the game releases! View the full article

Control is delightfully weird, y’all. The mid-century modern office hallways filled with floating bodies. The Lynchian janitor appearing at random moments to reveal secrets of the universe (or just let me borrow his Walkman). The dangerous items teeming with power sheltered behind glass — including and not limited to a stoplight, a refrigerator, and a rubber duckie. Jesse Faden’s first day on the job as the Bureau’s new director is a decidedly surreal adventure, with a parade of unusual oddities and kinetic gameplay that had me gleefully smiling my way to the Platinum trophy. See more Editors’ Choice picks at PlayStation Store Jesse enters the Bureau on a mission: to find and save her brother Dylan, who was seemingly taken by Bureau agents following a traumatic Altered World Event from their childhood that exposed Jesse to the wonders of another dimension. It also connected her to Polaris, an otherworldly force Jesse often shares her thoughts with, and who is the source of the unique powers that led her to the Oldest House’s doorstep. Remedy built an elaborate world within the mysterious and shifting walls of the Bureau. From the ominous red lighting of Hiss-infected zones to the kaleidoscopic and brutalist architecture, every new environment made an impression. The bold location text that consumed the screen as I discovered a new area was a stylistic flare that gave me the best kind of goosebumps. The spaces are filled to the brim with conspiracy and intrigue and I found myself creeping into every office space, leaving no heavily-redacted file untouched. I delighted in finding recordings from the Bureau’s increasingly deranged head of research, Dr. Darling, explaining the lexicon of phenomenon. I was delightfully disturbed stumbling across another unsettling episode of the Threshold Kids show. Throughout her journey Jesse’s narration speaks to the wonder I was having as a player, while also providing an emotional thread that grounded her in the ever-shifting world. And there’s a lot to wonder at. Control is filled with secrets, rewarding exploration with new abilities, thought-provoking lore, and delightfully disturbing side boss encounters. To be clear, sticking to the main story encounters is a wild and worthy adventure alone, but it’s these disquieting corners of the game that made Control a must-play for me. Encountering seemingly innocuous Objects of Power only to come face to face with the true horror within was addicting, and I found myself prioritizing side quests in an effort to find every monster under the bed. Interactions with Objects of Power that had been set loose in the world ranged from hilarious chase sequences, to dreamy logic puzzles, and morbid fights to the death. The Oldest House is ready to help and hinder Jesse in equal measure, and the surprise around the corner was always worth the detour. Between the research lore, Jesse’s literal fight for the truth grounds the game in style. The Hiss are a fascinating enemy, filling the halls with spooky murmurations that left me anxious to turn new corners. The variety of Hiss enemies increased throughout the game, making encounters constantly feel fresh. Just when I felt like I had the upper hand I’d be faced with an enemy that could dodge my Launch attacks, or a heavily armored Hiss guard packed to the teeth with explosives would blow me away. Even when retreading the same ground, I would find a new grouping of Hiss types, forcing me to rethink my strategy each time. The Launch mechanic that allows Jesse to telekinetically hurl rubble and office supplies at oncoming horrors is so deeply satisfying, nothing compares to pleasure I had running through office spaces nailing Hiss goons with a stapler or office chair. I found a hypnotizing rhythm of switching between Launch and the Service Weapon’s various modes that made me feel like I deserved that Director title. Peeking my nose into every corner of the Oldest House also helped me unlock new abilities that let the combat encounters flourish, especially in the game’s action-heavy third act. Unravelling Control’s mysteries was one of the most thrilling gaming experiences I have had all year. Weeks after earning the Platinum, I’m still diving back to find new spine-tingling research documents and luxuriating in the newly released Photo Mode. Control has a grip on me, and I’m happy to get lost in the Bureau’s halls. View the full article

Yaga came out of our love for oral storytelling and old eastern European traditions, so we thought we’d let you in on our sources of inspiration and how each of them shaped the game. Fairy Tales The backbone of the game are old Russian fairy tales we used to read when we were kids. “The Little Humpbacked Horse,” a beautiful folktale written by Piotr Ershov, together with a collection of “Enchanted Russian Tales” set the initial spark. Some of the characters like Maria Morevna, the evil Tzar or Ivan the Fool were taken from these stories, expanded and reinterpreted by us, and put into the game. One thing that’s specific to these traditional tales is that they’ve been passed down from generation to generation by oral telling, so the stories are never told in exactly the same way twice. The story beats follow the traditional path of the hero being thrust into an adventure, seeking help, finding mentors, pushing through setbacks and winning in the end. But the hero’s personality and the choice he makes are different in each telling, based on the narrator, his mood and the audience listening. That’s something we considered vital in capturing in our game as well, and that’s where our personality system stems from. Playing as Ivan, you can be Selfish, Foolish, Righteous or Aggressive, and each choice has its consequences: an aggressive character will learn to fight better, a selfish character will learn how to make more money, and so on. And all the little choices throughout the game come together in the end, where you can discover several different endings. Folk Tales While fairy tales deal with magical creatures and epic stories of heroes facing evil, folk tales are the smaller stories told by peasants to explain things they didn’t understand or to warn others about misfortune. The life and beliefs of XIVth century peasants and the superstitions and magic they believed in, all of them completed our picture of the world we wanted to highlight. Stories about creatures haunting the swamps, superstitions, tales to scare little children away from the forest allowed us to create the grim and dark creatures you’ll meet and fight along the way. Many of the small roleplaying encounters you meet in the game have their origin in vaguely remembered stories heard from our grandparents, neighborhood kids, or the village drunkards. The humor and tone of these stories has its own specific charm, and you’ll get to find them in the game in the form of “the bear wedding,” “Vasili the drunken undead,” “the goat priest,” and many others. Folklore Visually, traditional clothing, storybook illustrations and old hand-woven art had a major influence in defining the look of the game. There are motifs and archaic elements very specific to the region, and they blend together to create a refreshing combination for a video game. Old folkloric music, traditional instruments, and songs find their way into the game, but have been refreshed and updated to modern times by being mixed with hip-hop and electronic beats and samples, in something the composers call “underground folklore.” That’s Yaga in a nutshell: our love letter to the folklore, characters, and stories we grew up with! To celebrate our release, we’re giving fans a 20% discount on the main game, the soundtrack, and the Bad Luck Bundle which includes the game, soundtrack, and theme! We can’t wait for you to play Yaga! View the full article

Wattam, the new game from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, finally has a release date! You can now pre-order this joyful new experience at PlayStation Store ahead of its December 17 launch on PS4. Not content to simply count the days until then, we reached out to Takahashi san to see if he’d be interested in a follow-up interview to complement our conversation earlier this year. PlayStation.Blog: You mentioned in our last Q&A that you’ve become something of a family man. Has fatherhood changed your perspective of game development or artistic expression? Keita Takahashi: One day, my kids told me there is Noby Noby Boy face on faucet, so I went to the bathroom to check it, but I could not find it. They just pointed out the mesh/filter that attached to water exit of faucet. Yes, it looked like a Noby Noby Boy. I have never tried to look at that place before, but they can see it easily because of their viewpoint, which is lower than mine because they are shorter. I think my kids wanted to tell me what we grown-ups could miss a lot of things naturally and easily :) I don’t know if my creative mind has been changing since having kids, but I feel a sense of responsibility more toward the future. (Not only our kids’ future, but the future in general.) PSB: All your games seem to be about connection, from bringing players together in Noby Noby Boy, bundling up people in Katamari, and joining hands in Wattam. What are you trying to say with your games’ themes? KT: I don’t think it’s reasonable to say Katamari is the game about connection, and I think each game has different themes. I just have been wanting to make something new and fun, and that is more important than the themes. PSB: Related to above, have you kept up with Death Stranding? What do you think about that game’s approach to connection and violence not being part of the core gameplay loop? KT: I have heard Death Stranding has a similar theme to Wattam, even it’s a totally different look. It’s very interesting if it’s true. But unfortunately, I can’t tell about it because I don’t have a PS4. Would you mind if I ask you to send me a PS4 Pro or PS5 to answer your question? I will return it to you after I finish Death Stranding. I promise! PSB: What is your favorite reaction you’ve seen from someone playing Wattam? KT: I have been trying to not look at people who are playing Wattam because I feel uncomfortable, so I don’t know. PSB: All your games are endearingly weird. Do you have to put additional effort into achieving quirkiness, or does it come completely naturally? KT: All my games are not endearingly weird. PSB: Would you consider yourself a “unique” (or “weird” in a good way) person in general? If so, what is your earliest memory of being “weirder” than the average person? KT: In general, I think all persons are unique/weird. PSB: The music in your games is always so delightful! Can you tell us what kind of work went into building out Wattam’s soundtrack? KT: We have tried making an interactive music system in Wattam. Each location (“locations” are also “people” though) has its own music, and every person has its own instrument sounds. So you can listen to different music and instruments by selecting different people and being at different locations. And if you connect to other people, all instrument sounds are mixed well with the music, which you might need to pay attention to in order to notice that change, but it’s fun, and you might want to connect with all people to hear all the different music. My wife composed the theme song. I wanted to sync the theme song to tutorial sequence, so the music had to be separated into some segments to sync with the tutorial progression. I was a bit worried if the theme song will be a good one, but she made a really good theme song despite such a condition. PSB: What are some of the final touches you are putting on the game before putting it into players’ hands? KT: I had made a huge mistake when I was making Katamari. I was tuning the game literally until the day before we submitted the build to Sony. The QA team mentioned that after we got a gold, the game missed an object so the collection mode wasn’t able to be completed. Unfortunately the object I moved to the underground was the sole object, so I think the company had to pay tons of extra money to fix this situation. My final touches is don’t touch as much as possible at the very end. PSB: Now that Wattam finally has a release date locked in, what do you think you’ll be doing on that day? KT: I’m gonna go to the local GameStop to see if they have Wattam physical copies. :) View the full article

For many JRPG fans, the 90s was truly a golden age. Countless classic titles were released during this decade and have since entered a ‘hall of fame’ of sorts amongst fans and critics. For western and Japanese fans, there’s likely a lot of overlap between the titles they’d raise as all-time favorites, including titles like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and Xenogears. Romancing SaGa 3, on the other hand, could be raised by any number of Japanese fans, though you might be hard pressed to find any western gamers who have played it. Until today, that is. An HD remaster version of Romancing SaGa 3 launches today in the west for the first time on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, twenty-four years to the day from its initial release in Japan. While the franchise itself may not be well known outside of Japan, western gamers should take heart in knowing that the series shares its roots with Final Fantasy, the SaGa series creator Akitoshi Kawazu having filled key development roles on the original Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II. Needless to say, Romancing SaGa 3 has the JRPG credentials behind it – but what sets it apart from other installments in the Final Fantasy or even Dragon Quest series? Keep on reading to learn more about what makes Romancing SaGa 3 so good, and why it deserves to be included in the pantheon of beloved classic JRPGs. The Roots Although the Romancing SaGa series is venerated as one of the definitive JRPG series, along with the likes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, in Japan, you might be surprised to learn that some of the series’ major influences are decidedly western in origin. Kawazu-san commented, “as someone who read novels by Tanith Lee, Michael Moorcock, and Ursula K. Le Guin, and came into contact with tabletop RPGs through Dungeons & Dragons and computer RPGs through Ultima and Wizardry, being able to offer a title for the West is a great joy.” You can clearly feel the influences from tabletop RPGs mentioned by Kawazu-san in the branching decisions present in Romancing SaGa 3. While you as the player do take control of one of eight main protagonists who does have a set archetype, at various points in the game you’ll have to make a decision that will greatly impact that character’s outcomes and the greater narrative. Similar to tabletop RPGs, the fun comes from roleplaying as a certain character and making decisions based on who they are in order to see that character’s story through. While other JRPGs of the same era also touted sweeping stories and dramatic character arcs, none quite captured the direct decision making that Romancing SaGa 3 features. The Story So, decision making plays a key role in Romancing SaGa 3 – but what is the overarching narrative? Every 300 years the world befalls a tragedy known as the Rise of Morastrum — a deadly eclipse during which any living thing that is born is destined to die, except for a few extremely rare exceptions. These sole survivors are fated to either become forces of evil, or righteous saviors. The story of Romancing SaGa 3 picks up roughly a dozen years after the last Rise of Morastrum, so needless to say, the drama of a purported ‘child of destiny’ will play out as you explore each of the eight characters’ own personal stories. In terms of characters, there’s plenty of variety to choose from. The main cast is also perfectly split with four male and four female characters, making the game unique for its time. It’s completely up to the player as to which character they choose to play as, but as each character has their own individual path with branching decisions throughout and there are multiple sides of the story to uncover – replayability is high for this title. Many of the characters have secret, and not so secret, ties to one another, such as Ellen and Sarah being sisters, or Katarina being Monika’s bodyguard, so you’ll definitely want to experience their stories from each perspective. The Look and Sound Alongside Kawazu-san, the SaGa series has two other longtime veterans who have helped mold the series: Kenji Ito, who has lent his prowess to the music, and Tomomi Kobayashi, whose colorful illustrations have defined the look of the series. Fans of the Mana series will likely recognize Ito-san from his work there, but the SaGa series has remained a special one to Ito-san: “[The music of SaGa is] quite special to me because it’s a project that helped me build my skills as a composer.” From Romancing SaGa 3’s driving battle themes to its hopeful, if not whimsical, opening theme, there’s plenty for players to look forward to throughout their journey. Ito-san also composed eight themes to accompany each of the main protagonists, his approach to which began “by reviewing documents regarding the characteristics, physique, and other aspects for each character. Then, we try and create a melody or mix that lets you feel that character’s determination or will, so that the character’s personality and ‘feeling’ really come across within the music too.” Keep this in mind as you play through and come across all the different themes in the game. Kobayashi-san has worked on the Romancing SaGa series since its inception and has lent a colorful and dynamic look to the various games. Her style incorporates soft, sweeping brushstrokes, a large color palette of watercolors, and plenty of intricate details in the characters’ clothing and backgrounds. Japanese manga fans may find her style reminiscent of the art found in shoujo manga — something that Kobayashi-san has actively tried to leverage in her character designs. “I assumed that more men than women played these types of games, so it was my goal to add more elements that would be appealing to women in my art.” Although nefarious villains and horrible monsters are a common occurrence in RPGs, Kobayashi-san has made it a point to keep a cohesive sense of elegant design in her work on Romancing SaGa 3. “I try to turn things which are dark or frightening into something beautiful. Rather than eerie, I try to make things elegant, romantic, and dream-like.” Really, though, Kobayashi-san’s art speaks for itself, so take a look at some of her beautiful creations throughout this blog. The Battles So, Romancing SaGa 3 has it down pat in the story, music, and art categories, but let’s get down to brass tacks and talk battle systems. Like many other staples to the genre, Romancing SaGa 3 employs turn-based combat for you and your party of five characters, plus your enemies. What’s different here is that positioning and your party’s formation plays a big role in how you can maximize your offense while mitigating your weaknesses. It can also enable you to perform powerful attacks that would otherwise be impossible. ‘Inspiration’ also plays a major role in battle. With this system, every time a character attacks, there’s a chance inspiration will strike (in the form of a lightbulb appearing above that character’s head!), and they’ll launch a new attack. Your character will be able to execute this new attack at any time afterwards, so suffice to say it’ll be beneficial to partake in as many battles as possible to grow your characters before taking on any major baddies. There is also a unique battle system called Mass Combat within the game. When you opt for Mikhail as your main character, you can partake in large-scale battles where you’re in command of an army. Naturally this battle system differs quite a lot from the normal battle system, but it’s one you’ll definitely want to try out as you play through the game. There are also other mini-games present in Romancing SaGa 3, so keep your eye out for these different modes while playing. The New Being that Romancing SaGa 3 is an HD remaster, this version features gorgeous optimized graphics for modern platforms. Additionally, there is a new dungeon called the “Phantom Maze” for players to explore. There’s also a New Game+ function where you can carry over some items, learned abilities, money, skill levels, and more to a new game. Romancing SaGa 3 truly is a game to be experienced. With its eight main protagonists, multiple possible endings stemming from the free-form scenarios, revolutionary player choice and battle systems, there’s plenty for JRPG lovers to look forward to here. It’s been a long time coming, but in the words of Kawazu-san: “[…] being able to offer a title for the West is a great joy. I hope you enjoy playing.” Romancing SaGa 3 is now available on PS4 and PS Vita and is available at a 20% discount from today until December 4. New fans can also look forward to the upcoming release of SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions on December 3 for PS4. View the full article

When presented with the opportunity to work with an expansive franchise such as Doctor Who, deciding where to begin can easily become a daunting task. After weeks of research involving copious amounts of reading and episode-watching (in fairness, it’s a serious perk of my job!), we presented three possible routes to take for this VR experience. On one end of the spectrum, a classic Who-focused concept involving fan-favorite characters, and the other end looking into the new show direction and incarnation of the Doctor. We all agreed on the latter and to fit in somewhere after series 11 but with some classic monsters along the way. One of these was a definite must-have… The Weeping Angels – mysterious predators who move very quickly and silently towards their prey when unobserved, but become “quantum locked” and freeze when observed. Originally inspired by playground games such as Statues, Red Light Green Light, and Grandmother’s Footsteps, it’s perfect for the medium of VR, which uses a player’s head rotation and probably the only way you could actually get to experience their terror outside of the screen. We love the Angels episodes and they’re behind the reason we got to work on this project initially. In 2017, we invited the BBC into the studio to try an early concept demo of a VR experience we were working on. From there we started talking about Doctor Who and how well the show translated into this new medium. At its best, VR acts like a teleportation device allowing players to travel to distant worlds, faraway places and go on incredible adventures in space and time. It was obvious to us straight away in that meeting that Doctor Who would translate into a perfect VR title. By chance, The Doctor Who Experience, a live attraction in Cardiff that documented the show’s 55-year history and exhibited many of its props, sets, and characters was about to close. We got talking about photogrammetry and next thing you know we were down in Cardiff creating a digital record of the whole experience. It’s all on a hard drive in our office. With access to a wealth of incredible data, we couldn’t help ourselves and made a Weeping Angels demo in VR, and things just snowballed from there. One of the main challenges was how to balance the timings of looking away and how quickly the Angels advance in turn. In the show’s lore, they can move incredibly fast but in gameplay that can prove incredibly frustrating. There’s a balance between the distance they need to travel and the tension that ensues. We’re also playing with lighting just to add to the fear — if you’re suddenly dropped into darkness, they can change tactics and adjust their pathway. On the other hand, if all you do is stand on a spot and stare at a statue, then you’re looking at the world’s longest standoff. This means we have to keep the player on their toes, making you interact with items that require you to change direction. Then it’s about the setup of the scene, the environment and the accompanying sound effects from the show to make it feel authentic. The Angel models themselves are based on the original outfits from the show’s costume archives which were scanned through photogrammetry techniques to match as closely as possible. Doctor Who: The Edge of Time releases tomorrow on PS VR and we can’t wait for you to jump in the Tardis and take it for a spin. View the full article

Email us at blogcast@sony.com! Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here Connect to the Chiral Network and listen in to this week’s Blogcast, where Sid, Tim, and Justin discuss their initial impressions of the long-awaited Death Stranding. Plus, the gang reports back from their trip to NYC and the Fractured Worlds pop-up gallery. Stuff We Talked About Death Stranding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Audica Bagels The Cast Sid Shuman – Director of Social Media, SIEA Justin Massongill – Social Media Manager, SIEA Tim Turi – Senior Social Media Specialist, SIEA Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. [Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.] View the full article

The Jedi Order has fallen, and it’s up to surviving Padawan Cal Kestis to complete his training and stay one step ahead of the Empire. Respawn Entertainment created a galaxy-spanning adventure in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which drops one week from today on November 15. Who’s ready to topple an AT-ST all by themselves? Earlier in the week, keep your senses sharp while playing escape-room-adventure Last Labyrinth. You and fellow captive Katia will have to rely on body language and non-verbal communication to survive a treacherous mansion. For a full list of new games coming to PlayStation next week, read on. And enjoy The Drop! Astroneer PS4 — Digital, Retail (Out 11/15) Astroneer is a space sandbox adventure, where players can work together to build custom bases above or below ground, create vehicles to explore a vast solar system, and use terrain to create anything they can imagine. A player’s creativity and ingenuity are the key to thriving on exciting planetary adventures! Bee Simulator PS4 — Digital, Retail See the world through the eyes of a bee! Explore a world inspired by Central Park where you can take part in bee races, collect pollen from rare flowers and defy dangerous wasps. Play with friends or family in three game modes, including co-op and PvP on split screen. Contagion VR: Outbreak PS VR — Digital Dive deep into the events of the initial zombie outbreak. Explore the world through different perspectives and experience the beginning of the end in our single player campaign. With limited resources, make your way out in Free Roam. Familiarize yourself with each weapon in the Firing Range and best your scores if you can! Doctor Who: The Edge of Time PS4 — Digital A new mysterious enemy threatens to tear apart the universe and only you can stop them! Doctor Who: The Edge Of Time lets players embark on an adventure through space and time. Travel across the universe, visit alien locations, pilot the TARDIS, and solve the mystery of the controlling force behind the Reality Virus. Fractured Minds PS4 — Digital (Out 11/14) Fractured Minds is an immersive artistic short game, exploring anxiety and mental health issues. Embark on a journey through the human psyche to experience the everyday challenges associated with these conditions. Winner of the BAFTA Young Game Designers Award. Golem PS VR — Digital (Out 11/15) Enter a mysterious storybook world and take the role of Twine, an adventurous kid who has been seriously injured in an accident. Even though you are unable to leave your bed during your recovery, you never stop dreaming of exploring the outside world. That is, until you discover that you have the ability to create and control stone creatures called golems, seeing through their eyes and controlling their actions. Kitten’d PS VR — Digital (Out 11/14) Take care of cute kittens – lots and lots of cute kittens! Get points for keeping them happy and lose points for everything they destroy. Use points to upgrade your tools. Get an automatic food dispenser or clean up poop faster with the PoopScoop 3000! What awaits inside the next box?! Last Labyrinth PS4 — Digital (Out 11/13) Escape a merciless mansion alongside a girl words cannot reach, in an escape-the-room adventure game that can only be experienced in VR. Players must work to escape a mansion full of hidden dangers with a mysterious girl that appears before them. Mad Games Tycoon PS4 — Digital (Out 11/14) In Mad Games Tycoon, build your own Gaming Empire. Start your own game studio in the early 80s. The journey begins in a small garage with little money and limited resources. Create new game concepts, set up your team and develop the next million hit. Research new technologies, train employees and buy new and larger office space. Mercenaries Wings: The False Phoenix PS4 — Digital (Out 11/13) Mercenaries Wings: The False Phoenix is a tactical RPG in which players take control of mercenaries for hire. Hired by a King on a mission to reclaim his kingdom, the group of mercenaries are sent to fight a rebel army as commanded, risking life in exchange for precious coin. Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition PS4 — Digital Slink through the shadows as a deadly half-elven rogue, wield fearsome magics as a powerful gnomish sorcerer, vanquish your foes as an armor-clad dwarven paladin… whatever hero you create, incredible adventures await. Romancing SaGa 3 PS4, PS Vita — Digital (Out 11/11) The celebrated RPG classic comes west for the first time! Developed by industry veterans, Romancing SaGa 3 was originally released in Japan in 1995. This HD remaster of the legendary RPG masterpiece introduces optimized graphics, a new dungeon to explore, new scenarios and a new game+ function. Sparklite PS4 — Digital, Retail (Out 11/14) Sparklite is an action-adventure set in the whimsical and ever-changing land of Geodia. Battle foes in top-down action using an arsenal of gadgets, guns, and gear. Explore dangerous corners of the procedurally generated world, take down titans of the mining industry, and harness the power of Sparklite! Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order PS4 — Digital, Retail (Out 11/15) A galaxy-spanning adventure awaits in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a 3rd person action-adventure title from Respawn Entertainment. An abandoned Padawan must complete his training, develop new powerful Force abilities, and master the art of the lightsaber – all while staying one step ahead of the Empire. VR Ping Pong Pro PS VR — Digital, Retail Rackets at the ready! VR Ping Pong Pro is the follow up to the hit table tennis simulator of 2016, VR Ping Pong. Test your skills with a variety of challenging game modes, as you rise up the ranks to become the true Ping Pong Pro! Do you have what it takes? Pick up your virtual racket and find out! Woven PS4 — Digital (Out 11/15) Explore a woollen world where stuffed animals once lived in peace. Search for hidden secrets and customize your character with different animal shapes to solve puzzles. An epic adventure with two very unlikely heroes and a story narrated in rhyme. Yaga PS4 — Digital Smash, clobber and bash the murderous legends of Slavic mythology in this darkly funny action role-playing game that changes every time you play. Play as Ivan, a one-handed blacksmith with incredibly bad luck, who must take on the impossible tasks given to him by the tzar. SuperM – K-Pop and Play Takeover LA Noire Playlist Gang Starr: ’80s Rap Retrogamer Rick and Morty | Season 4 Angel Has Fallen Danger Close The information above is subject to change without notice. View the full article

Just because Halloween is over doesn’t mean things won’t get a bit spooky. Last week we asked you to share spine-tingling moments from your favorite games. From undead heroes to haunted settings, here are this week’s highlights: themarkplumb wades through a pit of grasping horrors in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. There’s always a spooky corner to share in Bloodborne, like this one from tidymice. Gnarled trees frame Deacon in this Days Gone share from Virtual__vp. JRPyznar shares the realm of the dead in God of War. Sir Dan keeps things spooky in this MediEvil share from Michael_Jambor. scojer13 shares a hair-raising moment from Evil Within 2. Search #PS4Share and #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in next week’s Share of the Week? Theme: Death Stranding Share by: 9am Pacific on Wednesday, November 20 For the next two weeks, we strap on some boots and make a trek through the world of #DeathStranding. Share your journey to save America using #PS4share and #PSBlog for a chance to be featured. View the full article