Commander Fury

Hello! I’m Matt Denomme, Senior Product Manager at En Masse Entertainment. I’m excited to introduce you to an amazing new MMORPG experience now available on PS4—Tera! En Masse publishes Tera on PC, but we always saw tremendous potential for the game on console. Two years ago, we set out with the developers at Bluehole to not only bring Tera to PS4, but to deliver an experience equal to the PC experience, if not better. Our efforts have finally paid off, and we’re excited to finally launch Tera as a free to play title on PS4 starting today!

Let me tell you what Tera is all about.

True Action Combat is Tera’s claim to fame in the MMO world. Your character’s skills don’t matter nearly as much as your skill with the controller. Skills require aiming, timing, and precision to execute correctly. Get sloppy and the fight will take a long time—or you’ll get killed. Position yourself just right though, and your skills will do more damage and speed the fight along. That philosophy was born from action games, so it’s no surprise it feels right at home on PS4.

Then there are Tera’s trademark baddies, the Big-Ass Monsters, or BAMs, as we like to call them. These brutes hit hard, can take what you can dish out, and are just fun to fight. A warrior wading in with her swords is going to get a surprise the first time a dracoloth takes to the sky to drop fireballs from above. A party may set up the perfect formation, but a naga battlemaster will leap around the battlefield and devastate players who are not prepared. Battles like this are the core of True Action Combat.

Bringing Tera to the PS4 meant making some adjustments, too. We wanted players to have a smooth experience, so the team at Bluehole made lots of tweaks that improve the game without detracting from it. For example, they added a lock-on system to keep the action centered on your screen. They simplified inventory management by automatically sorting items into categories and added a radial menu to give you rapid access to whatever you need. These little quality-of-life changes add up to a streamlined experience.

Life isn’t all swordfights and spell-hurling, though, there’s story in this RPG too. The world of Tera was born from a dream. The titans, Arun and Shara, laid down to sleep through the eons and their shared dream became the world of Tera. Their bodies became continents and their children became gods. Children squabble in any family, but when gods battle the results can be catastrophic. The world of Tera is scarred by wars and struggles, and the races are caught in the affairs of the gods. Each race brings their own flavor to the world, too! The mischievous poporis, the honorable aman, the volatile castanics, and the (mostly) noble humans are just part of the diverse tapestry of the game.

Tera on PS4 is the result of years of hard work by many people, across vast distances, all passionate about gaming—artists, developers, writers, testers, and customer support all working together. Of course, we couldn’t do it without our players, and so we’re excited to welcome you to the Dream. Pick your class, equip your weapon, and we’ll see you in there, fighting to take down those BAMs!

Tera’s is available now at PlayStation Store and is totally free to play from character creation all the way to level 65 and beyond. Create a hero and start your adventure in Tera today!

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This month we’ve got a diverse batch of new action, shooter, racing games and more hitting PlayStation Now, ready for you to stream to your PlayStation 4 and PC. Joining the library of more than 600 games – including more than 150 PS4 games – are Homefront: The Revolution, F1 2016, Saints Row: Gat out of Hell, The Unfinished Swan, Mantis Burn Racing, and more.

New This Month

You are the revolution in Homefront: The Revolution. In an alternate future, build a resistance against the occupying North Korean army in your hometown of Philadelphia. Explore an open world environment, scavenge supplies and modify your weapons and equipment as you start a new revolution.

This month we are upgrading the PS3 version of the open world action game Saints Row: Gat out of Hell to the PS4 version. Play as either Johnny Gat or Kinzie as you tear apart Hell in a quest to save the Boss’ soul. Historical icons, old friends, older enemies, a talking gun, a full length musical number, and a whole lot of other shenanigans all await you in this open world standalone expansion playground. Soar through the air on fallen angel’s wings, and wage war in the five unique districts of hell any way you want.

Get ready to create your own legend and go deeper into the world of the most prestigious motorsport than ever before, with F1 2016, the official videogame of the 2016 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. Featuring the full 2016 season calendar of 21 tracks and the full roster of 22 drivers and 11 teams, F1 2016 lets you work with your agent, engineer and team to develop your car in the deepest ever career experience, spanning up to ten seasons. Forge your own path to glory, and rise to be the champion.

With the indie hit The Unfinished Swan, explore a mysterious all-white landscape by splatting paint to reveal the world around you. As Monroe, a 10-year-old orphan, you’ll follow a swan that’s stepped out of an unfinished painting and wandered off into a surreal, storybook-inspired kingdom. Each chapter brings surprises, new ways to explore the world, a host of bizarre (and sometimes dangerous) creatures, and encounters with the eccentric king who built this empire.

Omega Quintet is a hybrid RPG and idol simulation where five idols wield Sound Weapons against the dark forces of the world. Build up an arsenal of attacks, get the crowd’s pulse racing with extraordinary skills, and then get them on their feet with a live performance! Customize your idols’ outfits, accessories, hair and more, and enter battle where every fight is a performance and the audience always wants more!

The race is on in Mantis Burn Racing, where fast-paced bumper-to-bumper racing combines with intuitive, tactile gameplay and stunning visuals in one of the most immersive top-down racers around. With a RPG-style upgrade system providing players with deep tactical choices, this is racing at its rawest but most exciting! Features 4-player local split-screen racing with extensive online modes for up to eight players (PlayStation Plus not required for online play through PS Now).

Here are all the new games available to stream on PS4 and PC starting today. We’ve got action, open-world, racing, shooters, puzzle and indie games, unique Japanese imports, and more.

April’s New PS Now Additions

• APB Reloaded
• Azkend 2
• Baseball Riot
• Dark Rose Valkyrie
• Dead Island Retro Revenge
• Dynamite Fishing World Games
• F1 2016
• Homefront
• Homefront: The Revolution
• Mantis Burn Racing
• Mighty No. 9
• Omega Quintet

PS3 > PS4 upgrades

• Risen 3 Enhanced Edition
• Saints Row: Gat out of Hell
• The Unfinished Swan

March’s Most Popular PS Now Titles

• Red Dead Redemption
• NBA 2K16
• WWE 2K16
• Mortal Kombat
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution
• The Last of Us
• God of War 3 Remastered
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Payday 2 Crimewave Edition

If you haven’t given PlayStation Now a try yet, check out the seven-day free trial for PS4 and PC to experience the streaming service for yourself. PS Now provides unlimited on-demand access to a growing library of over 600 games, with new games added every month, and no game downloads required. PS4 save data in PS Now is also compatible with PS Plus cloud saves, so you can upload/download save files to and from your own console.

Stay tuned to PS Blog for more PlayStation Now updates. Happy gaming!

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Full disclosure: I’m a Dark Souls bore. Gaming’s equivalent of one of those guys who pulls out an acoustic guitar at a house party and starts singing Ed Sheeran songs. Everybody knows one.

When From Software’s revelatory action RPG first launched back in 2011, I fell for it hard, playing it over and over and over. NG, NG+, NG++, DLC, NG+++. For a six month period, it dominated my waking hours, and then invaded my nightmares.

But that was seven years ago. Things have changed. Sequels happened. PS4 happened. Bloodborne happened. And with the upcoming release of Dark Souls Remastered looming, I was curious as to how my GOAT has stood up to the ravages of time.

In search of answers, I was delighted to take Bandai Namco up on its offer of some hands-on time with its returning masterpiece.

Watch our U.S. team dive back into the depths on the latest PlayStation Underground!

Here’s everything I learned in my first 60-minute foray back into Lordran…

1. Muscle memory is intact

You know the old saying, “Tiptoeing around Lordran cowering behind a shield is just like riding a bike?” Never a truer word was spoken. It’s been six years since I last booted up Dark Souls and getting back in the saddle was a breeze.

First time around I found Dark Souls’ UI a touch inscrutable. Confession: it wasn’t until I was more than 30 hours into the game that I realized I’d solely been levelling up my Vitality stat. It was an… interesting build.

This time I was equipping items, studying item stats, tweaking my build, and lobbing projectiles around straight out of the gate, like a champ. Come at me, Burg-dwellers.

2. Pity Undead Burg’s hapless residents

Where once I inched through the Burg in a state of permanent paranoid anxiety, this time I marched through its streets with untouchable swagger, dispatching its dead-eyed residents with a nonchalant flick of the thumbstick and a few pithy ad-libbed one-liners. Back in 2011 their booby traps and ambushes elicited shock, awe, and sweaty palms. Not today.*

3. It’s lonely out there

Following the busy world of Dark Souls 3 and the torch-wielding mobs of Bloodborne, the eerie quiet of the Undead Burg was a surprising – and welcome – reminder of just what an amazing job From Software’s classic does of establishing atmosphere and a sense of place.

With incidental music all but non-existent, Dark Souls is a game soundtracked almost solely by your interactions with the environment. With a pair of headphones on, and a big 4K TV screen inches from your nose, it’s still a uniquely solemn, lonely world to inhabit.

4. It’s good to be back at Firelink Shrine

Is there a safer, more tranquil bolthole in any video game than Dark Souls’ Firelink Shrine? I think not. That gentle orchestral theme, the crackling campfire, the Crestfallen Warrior’s rousing pep talks (“There’s no salvation here. You would have done better to rot in the Undead Asylum”) – yup, it’s my happy place.

5. It’s great to get the gang back together

And speaking of friendly faces, it was all I could do to stop myself reaching through the TV and giving good old Petrus of Thoruland a hug when I ran into him mooching about the Firelink ruins.

As per last go-round, the feeling did not appear to be mutual. “Have you business with us? If not, I’d prefer to keep a distance.” <3

6. Dark Souls makes you feel good…

You can’t beat the dopamine release of vanquishing a boss, kicking down a ladder, and having that “Eureka!” realization that you’ve opened up a shortcut back to a bonfire. A close second? Landing your first backstab animation and eviscerating a poor Burg-dweller. It’s the little moments in Dark Souls that really set it apart.

7. …except when it doesn’t

What’s the opposite of dopamine? I’ve no idea – but whatever it is, two things are guaranteed to send it coursing through my neural synapses: Black Knights, and getting poisoned by giant rats.

My first sighting of the former, standing stock-still at the far end of a corridor, sent a familiar chill trickling down my spine. The latter, meanwhile, won my first Dark Souls-inspired volley of four letter words since I last dispatched Gwyn, Lord of Cinder all those years ago.

8. Prepare not to die

Humblebrag: I timed my first death at 53 minutes. I breezed past the Asylum Demon with barely a scratch on me; and the once-feared Taurus Demon capitulated quicker than you can holler “Death From Above!”

I hear you. There are few online cliques more tedious than the “Actually Dark Souls is really easy, dontchaknow” crowd. That said, when you actually know what you’re doing, progress is quick and satisfying. It’s a great feeling clearing out an area in 10 minutes that once took you days of toil.

9. Pride comes before a fall

But with Dark Souls, it’s exactly that kind of complacency that lands you in trouble. There are few other games where disaster can befall you at such unexpected speed – even when you know every inch of its terrain. My assassin? Those darn rats guarding the entrance to the Undead Parish.

10. And after a fall? Calamity.

Peeved that my bubble of perceived invincibility had been popped so unceremoniously, I duly decided to put my head down and charge back through the battlefield from the nearest bonfire to snatch back my lost souls.

Sure enough, with my blood up and concentration punctured, I got cut down well short of my goal. Goodbye, hard-won soul cache. Never forget, Dark Souls takes great pleasure in punishing greed or hubris. Come May 25, remember to stay humble!

*Okay, yeah, sure – I totally fell for the old “flaming barrel kicked down the stairs” trick ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Aloha, PlayStation VR Fans! Adam Volker here from Flight School Studio excited as heck to tell you that our next PSVR game, Island Time VR, is out today! This arcade-style survival game strikes a very different tone from our last PSVR release, Manifest 99, which was recently nominated for an Emmy Award. In Island Time VR, you are shipwrecked on a tiny virtual island. You’ll have to find a way to survive and not starve; so, you’ll catch fish, craft tools and fend off pesky creatures like seagulls who steal your stuff. Oh! And, you’ll have to start a fire to cook food. Good luck with that one.

And, today, I’m chatting with the amazing Ruby Wang, Art Director for Island Time VR and Greg Miller of Kinda Funny, the illustrious voice of Carl The Crab. As the island’s only resident, Carl is the friendliest crustacean you’ve ever met. He helps players out with (sorta) useful tips, tricks, and the occasional claw. He’s your new best friend. Kinda.
 

Ruby, where did you start with the visual design for Carl? How’d you nail his wacky shape and big personality?

Because Carl is the primary character you interact with and you are constantly dying, it was important that he be as adorable/goofy as possible to give the player encouragement. To try out lots of options, I drew a bunch of character thumbnails to quickly try out several kinds of shapes and styles that might fit his personality. For the team, the round shape version of Carl just stood out as friendly and cute (bottom row second from the left)! So, we expanded his design from that small sketch. Once you know what Carl is like, every design detail just followed naturally!

Ruby, what’s some of the challenges of designing characters and objects for PlayStation VR? What makes a great character like Carl work in VR?

Doing design for VR is a little different than designing things in animation, films, or some games. For art, we have to aim for a big, clear silhouette. Because people can get really close to an object in VR, we have to give a lot of detail to props and characters, even if the design seems very simple. We want our game to look nice from far; but, it still should look great if we get closer. For character design, we have to pay attention to player’s point of view. Most of the time in the game, players see Carl from a top-down view. So, I had to make sure Carl’s silhouette read well and looked cute from that angle. Also, that his floating eyebrows don’t look weird!

Greg, what did you think when you got the first impressions of Carl? How did Ruby’s design impact your voice performance?

Oh, man, I thought he was adorable! The first clip you guys and gals sent me was him just walking around, and even at that rough stage, I thought he looked great. I mean, I’m not a voice actor. I don’t know how anyone can stand my voice! So when you reached out for the role, I assumed I’d have to do something different, but you explained you wanted me for Carl because Carl is me — honest, heart on his sleeve, and positive as can be. Once I saw him — saw Ruby’s design — I got it. The first trailer my voice is in ends with him talking about how impressed he is with the player, and you can see that in his eyes and — hopefully — hear that in my voice. That’s something special.

Greg, what do you think are Carl’s most helpful tips? Do you think he’s truly motivated to help the player?

Carl is 100 percent motivated to help the player. When we were in the booth, you kept bringing me back to honestly being happy with the player’s performance and positive in Carl’s criticism. It’s not about mocking a player — this is Carl’s only friend; he wants the player to survive just to have someone to talk to. As far as tips? Experiment! You folks have done a great job of making a game that seems simple. It gets deeper the more you tinker. There’s plenty the player will be discovering on their third or fifth playthrough.

Alright, for both you: if you could send one thing to Carl to use while stranded on the island, what would it be?

RW: Another friend, like you! We all need friends around us, making sure we have company in difficult times …like dying. He needs you as much as you need him. So, go get stranded on this tiny island and be a lifelong friend with Carl the Crab!

GM: Chicken wings and a PlayStation Vita. Duh.

Well, nobody asked me so “Gee, Adam, what’s the one thing I’d take with me if I was stranded on an island?” I’d start with a comfy chair to sit in and then go from there.

Thanks Ruby and Greg for bringing Carl to life and for being the absolute best collaborators on the game. I can’t wait to beat your high score.

In any case, dear reader, we’re looking forward to seeing your best survival times and creative solutions to uh… not dying in Island Time VR.

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Hi everyone, M from Truant Pixel here; I’m excited to finally reveal that 2MD: VR Football is coming to PlayStation VR this Spring!

2MD is a motion-controlled VR gridiron football game – it’s a thrilling, two-minute drill arcade experience that encourages players to stand up and take on the role of a quarterback tasked with capturing victory in the final minutes of a championship game. The goals are simple: Draw the plays, call the shots, and throw, hand-off, or run the ball to take down opponents before the clock runs out!
 

We’ve built a unique, 1:1 throwing model which allows for natural form in VR. It’s customizable for players of all sizes, for either standing or seated play, utilizing Move motion tracking to create an experience that is truly the first of its kind for PlayStation.

The idea for 2MD came about after we first experienced room-scale virtual reality: we were motivated to create an engaging, physically active experience that would best utilize the technology and the available space, even when the room to move around might be limited. Most important of all, the experience had to be fun in a way that was natural, quick to learn, but challenging to master; kind of like… throwing a ball.

From there, a proof of concept that was drafted – simple at first, inspired by two-minute drill arcade football games of old, with primitives sliding around a bare field, falling over each other to chase down a ball. Drafting plays in VR was subsequently birthed as a natural extension of using the interface to give the primitives on your “team” routes to run. It’s really no exaggeration to say that, with this game, simple and addictive fun was at its core, with the rest of the title evolving from that. We had such a good time with the concept that we committed to turning it into a full-fledged, polished experience, and 2MD: VR Football was born.

2MD is unique to PS VR in several ways. In addition to realistic passing, you can also hand off the ball to a runner, or even run the ball yourself. Because you have freedom to design your own offensive plays (up to eight unique ones that can be dynamically ‘flipped’ for 16 total), you’re in complete control of your strategy before taking the field. Once there, you can call audibles using either standard digital controls, or using speech recognition if you choose. You’ll need a creative strategy, after all, because your opponents are also one-of-a-kind.
 

The defensive AI is deceptively simple at first, but quickly becomes complex as you progress through the seven-round heat. Defenders have unique behaviors that will vary from one play to the next and may act individually or respond as a group. As a result, no two plays will turn out the same. The defense will continue to get better at responding to your strategy, too, so be ready to change it up if you want to earn that championship ring.

In addition to building from the ground-up for PSVR, we’ve taken the time to add even more to round out the experience: We’ve enlisted the talents of professional voice actors like SungWon Cho (@prozdkp) as coach, Xander Mobus (of Persona 5 and Super Smash Bros) as our announcer, and David Wald (@davidwald_va) to voice some of our players. The PS VR release of 2MD also features music by up-and-coming Hip-hop artist K.Carter, whose fight song “Down the Field” plays during the championship game.
 

All this plus eight immersive stadiums (with unique touchdown celebrations and thousands of screaming fans), customizable teams, rapid-fire post-game bonus rounds that allow you to exponentially increase your score, and more. There’s much more to 2MD than I can list here, and that really describes the game in a nutshell: simple to pick up, easy to get into, but with a deeper strategy and challenge beneath the surface for both casual and serious football fans alike.

Thanks for your time, and we can’t wait to see everybody on the leaderboards soon!

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G’day from Australia! My name is Ed Orman, and I’m one of the founders of Uppercut Games. I’m super-excited to announce that our hack and slash adventure City of Brass is coming to PS4 on May 4, 2018! To celebrate, we’ve put together a brand-new action-packed trailer showing off the game!

City of Brass is a first-person action adventure, where you take on the role of a daring thief who has entered the ill-fated city in search of treasure, only to find it filled with traps, terrors and an evil curse that forces you to die and be reborn over and over again.

Armed with scimitar and a whip that can grab, trip, disarm, stun or shatter as well as swing, you’ll lash and slash, bait and trap your way through hordes of undead, collecting treasures and powerful relics as you struggle to reach the center of the city and break the curse. You’ll also encounter Genies who will provide their services – for a price.

With the ability to sprint, crouch, slide, leap and vault, you’ll quickly become accustomed to fluidly moving and fighting through the city. The city shifts and changes every time you play, and we’ve provided tools to allow players to tune the challenge to the level that you are comfortable with. We’re really looking forward to finally getting City of Brass into your hands!

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Are you prepared to put an end to a fight centuries in the making? SNK is bringing one of the most iconic entries in the KOF franchise to PS4 and PS Vita tomorrow! Releasing at $14.99 with both cross buy and cross play, this is a must-buy for any fighting game aficionado!

About KOF ’97 Global Match

The biggest addition to this release is the inclusion of online multiplayer, including options such as the ability to play single player while waiting for matchmaking. As with our previous releases that were made in collaboration with Code Mystics, The King of Fighters ’97 Global Match will also include a special Gallery Mode with unlockable art pieces, and the ability to set the Menu BGM to your favorite music track! The original KOF ’97 release was a key entry in the franchise, because it concluded the first overarching KOF storyline, the Orochi Saga, which went on to be a staple in the series going forward.

Looking Back on the Development of KOF ‘97

I sat down to talk with Yasuyuki Oda and Hideaki Asanaka about the development of KOF ’97 to get an idea of what sets it apart from other entries in the series, at least in the eyes of the developers.

JW: Can you tell us a little bit about your history with KOF ’97?

Oda: Well, I was not directly involved in the development process for the KOF titles as I primarily worked on the Fatal Fury series; however this entry is particularly special because it added a few new characters from the Fatal Fury series, Blue Mary and Ryuji Yamazaki. In fact, one of the new teams added to the game was actually the result of polling fans through a handful of Japanese gaming magazines for characters they wanted added to the series and all three of them (Billy Kane, Blue Mary, Ryuji Yamazaki) were actually characters from my Fatal Fury series, which made me very happy. Billy Kane had already appeared in the KOF series, but the other two made their debut in this title thanks to their popularity among fans. On top of that, we always had trouble creating the sambo style grappling moves for Blue Mary in the Fatal Fury games. In certain titles, we actually started cutting down on her grapple moves because they were hard to balance. However, I feel like the designers who worked on her in KOF ’97 managed to find the perfect balance in her gameplay, which really impressed me as we had struggled there.

Asanaka: I was the Main Sound Designer on KOF ’97 and it still sticks in my mind because we challenged ourselves to create a very different type of soundtrack. As part of the plot, the KOF tournament stops being a secretly held event, with more of a mainstream appeal, complete with sponsors and TV broadcasts. In that sense, we wanted to move away from the standard format with every character having their own music tracks, and instead focus on a more overarching sound styled after competitive events. I believe that the ’96 Olympics being fresh in everyone’s minds also helped influence that direction as well. It was a challenge and there were some necessary cuts made to match that direction, but I think we succeeded in making a very unique soundtrack for the game that still has fans to this day.

JW: Considering the series had yearly updates during this period, were there any other changes to make things fresh?

Asanaka: The team members for the KOF titles actually changed quite a few times, so each team definitely had their own take on things. One thing that comes to mind is that there was actually a push to add some levity into the title to balance out the fairly dark storyline. The addition of Shingo Yabuki to the game highlights this in my opinion. He’s designed to be a comic foil to the main character Kyo, and his design and personality is definitely influenced by common anime tropes such as school rivalries.

Oda: The series definitely started delving more and more into that realm over the years. I wasn’t involved in the creation process myself, but one example would be the ‘202 Shiki Koto Tsuki You’ move added post- KOF ’94 to Kyo’s move list. Every time I see that move it reminds me of a similar move in one of my favorite 90s giant robot anime! Not sure if that is a coincidence or not though…

JW: Were there any other interesting stories or changes to KOF ’97 that you remember clearly?

Asanaka: There is one more actually, though I’m not sure how interesting people will find it! One issue we always had with KOF was that the arcade center income was less efficient than other titles such as Fatal Fury. This was just simply because having a 3v3 system meant it took longer per play for rounds to finish, which meant less 100 yen coins for the company! We obviously did want to touch that system as it is central to the KOF experience, but we made changes elsewhere, such as speeding up the message speed.

Oda: Yeah, actually we did something very similar with Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, removing a lot of extraneous features so that matches started and ended much quicker.

JW: Do you have any last comments for the fans?

Asanaka: KOF ’97 felt like a turning point for the franchise as we finished the first overarching storyline and it was a huge hit with fans. I hope they enjoy the unique soundtrack we put together for this iconic release.

Oda: KOF ’97 is still currently one of the most popular eSports titles out there, especially in China where huge tournaments are still regularly held. I hope that this release motivates more fans overseas to try their hand at competing in these retro titles!

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If you were deciding whether to get a PS4 back in 2014, you may have walked up to a demo kiosk at your local Best Buy or Target and tried out a game called Chasm. Or maybe you were already familiar with it from the time it first hit the public eye the year before when it blew away its funding goal on Kickstarter. And then you may have wondered whatever became of that game that reminded you of your favorite games from back in the day.

Well, I’m happy to report that the little team that could is now putting the final touches on this passion project that has consumed five people for nearly six years. We expect to be submitting the final game to Sony in a couple months and launching this summer. We’ve created a teaser trailer to whet your appetite which you can watch above.

Welcome to Chasm, an action adventure game in which you play a new recruit undertaking your first mission for the Guildean Kingdom. Thrilled to prove your worth as a knight, you track strange rumors that a mine vital to the war effort has been shut down. But what you discover in the mining town is worse than you imagined: The townspeople have begun to disappear, kidnapped by supernatural creatures emerging from the depths. Honor-bound to solve the mystery and restore peace to the Kingdom, you embark upon an epic adventure, with deadly battles against cunning monsters, exploration of ancient catacombs and castles, and powerful new equipment hidden at every turn. Though the overall story is the same for all players, your hero’s journey will be unique: each of the rooms has been hand-designed, and behind the scenes Chasm stitches these rooms together into a one-of-a-kind world map that will be your own.

This map isn’t a spoiler since yours will be different!

We were grateful and humbled by the outpouring of enthusiasm for Chasm when we first announced it five years ago. So many people tried the demo we put out with the Kickstarter and thought that it already seemed like a finished game. In fact, we’re still using some of the assets from back then, including the main character, some of the NPCs, and a few enemies. So what have we been up to all this time?

We certainly fell prey to Hofstadter’s Law, which states that things always take longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law. A lot of our favorite games took over five years to make, including Axiom Verge, Owlboy, and Spelunky. On one hand, we may have started talking about Chasm too early, so people who were excited by it felt that development was taking forever. On the other, had we not talked about it when we did, Chasm would never have gotten made. The game exists thanks to the financial and emotional support of those early fans, and we are eternally grateful.

One of the most difficult things to get right was the underlying code base. When we made that early demo, it was stitched together with bubblegum and duct tape. We wanted to make sure that everyone playing Chasm would have their own world map that was unique to them, and we also wanted to make sure that every possible world map had the right pacing, variety of gameplay, and challenge. I think we succeeded. Many of our playtesters didn’t even realize that their world was a one-of-a-kind until they started a second playthrough.
 

Another challenge was the sheer volume of content. We had an overall story arch and world structure in mind when we set out to develop the game, and that required a lot of content. Whereas the earliest demo had a few enemies and room types in the first area of the game, Chasm now has six fully realized areas, with tons of enemies, bosses, puzzles, and platforming challenges. Detailed backgrounds, sound effects for every enemy, puzzles, and side quests are all critical to the creation of an immersive make-believe world.
 

We don’t want to spoil too much with our official release finally just around the corner. But we will give you one final bit of new information. Back when Axiom Verge launched on PS Vita, lots of people asked Dan Adelman (who handles the business side of both games) if Chasm would launch there too. Dan replied that it would depend on how Axiom Verge did. Well, I’m excited to confirm that Axiom Verge did well enough on PS Vita that we decided to make Chasm cross-buy. And best of all, this added no time to our schedule, since the guy who did the Axiom Verge port was able to get Chasm’s code base up and running while we were still working on the game.

We’ll have more details about the specific release date soon, but for now, keep your summer open!

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Pack your bags for a small, curious adventure. Minit launches April 3 on PS4.

Venture outside the safe, comfortable confines of your home and explore the world outside with only one minute to spare. Vanquish dangerous foes, help the locals, and uncover secrets as you work to lift the curse that ends each day after 60 seconds of adventure.

For a full list of games coming to PlayStation next week, read on. And enjoy The Drop!

The Weeknd – Dear Melancholy,

Alan Silvestri – Ready Player One Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Rich The Kid – The World Is Yours

The information above is subject to change without notice.

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Last week, we asked for daring shots from the middle of the action of your favorite game. You shared characters fighting, leaping and defying gravity using the hashtags #PS4share and #PSBlog, and we’ve selected the shots that blew us away.

Aloy launches into attack mode in this crisp shot from Horizon Zero Dawn by @LUCKYless11.

@superwasabi138 caught inFAMOUS Second Son’s Delsin barrelling to the ground.

Nathan Drake swings into action on one last adventure in this Uncharted 4 capture from @gamescapes_.

Senua will not be stopped in this fiery moment from Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice by @Kirill_Skulkin.

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: Far Cry 5
Share by: 9am Pacific on Wednesday, April 4

While you build the resistance in Hope County and give Boomer all the tummy rubs, share your best shots using #PS4share and #PSBlog.

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Welcome back! On today’s program our very own Sid Shuman (you know the one) details three recent hits from his gaming queue. From the recently released co-op adventure A Way Out to the nostalgia-inducing Crossing Souls, we cover… all three games! Enjoy the show.

Email us at blogcast@sony.com!

Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here

Stuff We Talked About

• Tesla vs. Lovecraft
• Crossing Souls
• A Way Out
• Ni no Kuni II
• Far Cry 5

Recent Episodes

• 285: Like Father, Like Son
• 284: Wayfaring Stranger
• 283: Fast-Forward

The Cast

Sid Shuman – Director of Social Media, SIEA
Ryan Clements – Sr. Social Media Specialist, SIEA
Kristen Titus – 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.]

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Starting today, the TV & Video experience on PlayStation 4 is getting a complete refresh in the U.S. The new design puts content front and center, making it easier for you to discover and watch the best movies and TV shows available across your favorite streaming services, such as Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, and YouTube, in addition to PlayStation Video and PlayStation Vue.

• Browse in one place – You can now find trending content or discover new movies, TV shows, live TV events and user-generated content from your favorite video services in a single place, without jumping in and out of apps. TV & Video is now a central destination for exploring content and easily renting, purchasing, or subscribing to services that give you access to the content you want to watch.
• Featured and Spotlight categories – The ‘Featured’ section shows you a mix of the best content from various video services. We also have a ‘Spotlight’ section that shows you popular content based on a rotating theme, such as “Superheroes” or “Award Season.”
• Personalized YouTube experience – You can link your YouTube account to your PlayStation Network account to get personalized recommendations in the YouTube section. Personalized recommendations for other services are coming soon too!
• Currently trending live channels on PlayStation Vue – The PlayStation Vue section shows you live channels that are most popular now in your area. PS Vue subscribers get one-click access to the livestreams and the content shown will be tailored to your subscription plan.
• Direct app access – With the updated interface, you still have fast access to the video apps you use most, a full list of all available video services, and your PlayStation Store video library in ‘My Videos.’

We hope you enjoy the new look and feel of the PS4 system’s TV & Video experience, and we’ll continue to update with additional features… so stay tuned and keep checking back!

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We’re thrilled to confirm that we are bringing the heart-pounding action of Guns of Icarus Alliance to PS4 on May 1, 2018. Starting today, you can pre-order Guns of Icarus Alliance at a 25% discount while also receiving a ship figurehead and a costume set forged exclusively for those who pre-order.

Guns of Icarus Alliance: PS4 Edition is the ultimate steampunk airship combat game, complete with an ongoing war between six elite factions vying for control of a world ravaged by machines. Up to 32 players can engage in epic PVP airship battles, with 4 players manning each ship. Or team up with your faction to take on the AI in heart-pounding PVE skirmishes. Take the roles of Pilots, Engineers, and Gunners and work with your crew towards victory. Repair your ship’s armor, gun down enemy balloons, and deftly weave in and out of combat to dominate the skies in a variety of game modes and maps. In this ever-changing universe, a team’s successes and failures constantly shape and reshape the world based on who dominates the battlefield. In the skies of Guns of Icarus, you and your crew triumph or perish, together.

Since day one, the heart and soul of Guns of Icarus has been the idea of teamwork. However, we didn’t want to simply create a game where individuals just happened to be placed on a team together, with everyone focusing on their individual kill/death ratios. We sat down and really thought about what the concept of a “team” meant to us – and that ultimately boiled down to the understanding that each individual member should feel like a part of something that can only work if everyone contributes. We didn’t want the opportunity for a single player to “carry” a match, but rather to encourage communication, strategizing, and sharing a single communal goal that can only be achieved through cooperation and shared effort. The ship is the team’s collective life bar – when the ship goes down, the crew goes down with it. Every member of the crew plays an integral role in not only maintaining the “life” of the ship, but also weakening the integrity of enemy ships as they work cooperatively towards a shared victory.

When we made the decision to release the game on PS4 as a console exclusive, it was a priority for us to find a way to ensure that the new release would not be a point of division, but rather a way for us to grow our community. PlayStation affords us the opportunity to seamlessly bring console and PC players into the same match, and it was the perfect fit. However, just allowing PlayStation 4 players the chance to play in matches with players on other platforms wasn’t enough. We wanted to be sure that all players had the opportunity to experience the full teamwork experience – which is why we also prioritized cross-platform voice chat.

Releasing on PS4 has been a long-time dream, and this dream was made possible with the assistance of Unity and Photon. Since we are bringing the game over from PC, in many cases it has been like flipping a switch to bring aspects of the game to PS4. We were lucky enough that we didn’t have to rebuild our UI from scratch, as the system was designed to be able to handle controller input. While we still created some custom pieces on top of this foundation, we did not end up in a position where we had to rebuild everything. Quite a bit of what we already had in place transitioned to PS4 seamlessly.

However, the development process was not without its hiccups. Working on PS4 presented very different problems than we were used to on PC, where we get to decide where to optimize, and set the hardware requirements to match. On PS4 we have one set of hardware. In some respects, and that made things more challenging. Getting our CPU usage to a reasonable level took a lot of work, especially while maintaining identical gameplay for a cross platform title. On the other hand, that meant we always knew how far we could push the hardware, and we didn’t have to spend time worrying about players that might try and play on unique, old, or untested hardware.

Guns of Icarus Alliance is about communication and community. We wanted to push the boundaries of what this means now, and what it can mean moving forward. We’ve been working towards this moment for a long time, and we can’t wait to share the skies with all you amazing PS4 players.

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It’s PlayStation Plus time! Here are the free games coming to PlayStation Plus members in April 2018.

First stop: Mad Max for PS4! Developed by Avalanche Studios, you star as the iconic lone warrior surviving a hostile Wasteland. Max Rockatansky’s dangerous journey begins after a gang steals his legendary Interceptor. Combining open-world vehicle combat with bone-crunching battles, Mad Max will keep you fully immersed as you fight to get your Interceptor back and make it to the Plains of Silence.

Racing fans will appreciate TrackMania Turbo, a polished PS4 arcade racing game where your goal is to achieve the perfect racing time. You can hone your skills with 200 pre-built tracks, then create and share your own custom tracks to make the competition last forever.

This month’s PlayStation Plus lineup also includes:

• In Space we Brawl, PS3
• Toy Home, PS3
• 99 Vidas, PS Vita
• Q*Bert Rebooted, PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS3 and PS4)

Of course, with PlayStation Plus you get a bunch of other benefits: exclusive discounts, online multiplayer, cloud saves, Share Play support and more. Learn more here.

And that’s it for April. See you next month!

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We’re proud to reveal our March update for Gran Turismo Sport: Patch 1.15, available today. We’ve been paying close attention to your feedback, and have added an unmissable collection of new cars, events and a brand new VR Time Trial mode we hope you’ll love. You’ll be able to download and play from tonight, March 28th at 7:00pm Pacific.

As always, you can find the full patch notes at Gran-Turismo.com; and be sure to stay tuned to PlayStation.Blog for the first word on more upcoming GT content.

VR Time Trials

One of our most often received requests to date has been the expansion of GT Sport’s thrilling VR mode. So, with the latest patch, PlayStation VR owners will soon, for the first time, have the chance to hit the track in a series of challenging time trials. This means you’ll be able to utilize the full benefits of PS VR to perform your best lap time on the legendary Nurburgring and Suzuka race circuits.

New Vehicles

Rolling into Brand Central this month are 13 stunning new vehicles, from classic roadsters to modern supercar concepts. Take a look at the complete line-up:

• Honda Raybrig Concept-GT
• Lexus Au Tom’s RC F
• Nissan Motul Autech GT-R
• Aston Martin DB11
• BMW M3 Sport Evolution
• Eckerts Rod & Custom Mach Forty
• Ford GT40 Mark I
• Gran Turismo Red Bull X2014 Standard
• Gran Turismo Red Bull X2014 Junior
• Lexus RC F GT3
• Mazda RX-7 GT-X (FC)
• Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (R33)
• Nissan GT-R Nismo

New Track

Next, we’ve added the world famous (and GT fan-favorite) Tsukuba Circuit, featuring a unique combination of tight hairpins and wide, sweeping corners to really test drivers’ racing finesse.

GT League Events

Continuing to add to the GT League line-up, we’ve introduced three new events to test drivers of all skill levels, including:

• Nissan GT-R Cup – Beginner League
• Redbull X-Junior Series – Amateur League
• All Japan GT Car Championships – Professional League

Fanatec Wheel Support

For all the Fanatec wheel users out there, we are really pleased to announce that we are adding official support in the update and will continue to improve its functionality in future updates.

Finally, we’ve also added a stunning new Cherry Blossom theme to Scapes Mode to help you get into the spring spirit, and an all-new MINI Museum to explore the complete history of the British automotive giant.

Remember: you can find all the latest info on upcoming GT Sport content here at PlayStation.Blog or on the official Gran Turismo website. Until next time, drivers, we’ll see you out on the track.

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Hello, PlayStation fans! Exciting news from all of us at Spearhead Games; we’re so pleased to announce that our next action-adventure title, Omensight, is coming to PS4! To celebrate our studio’s continuing partnership with the great folks at Sony (Tiny Brains, Stories: The Path of Destinies), watch our brand new, gorgeous, narrative trailer above.

We’ve built upon what we’ve learned in making Stories: The Path of Destinies to create this new title. While Stories was inspired by Choose Your Own Adventure books, we’ve pushed our experimentation with branching narrative structures further and created an unique experience: an action-adventure murder mystery game.

So what’s the premise of Omensight?

When the world of Urralia nears its end, that’s when your work as The Harbinger begins. Take on the impartial, and crucial, role of both warrior and judge to rewrite the destruction of your war-sieged world by identifying characters that may have played a part in the apocalypse. By understanding the events that pushed Urralia to its tragic end, you can manipulate time and circumstance to prevent the catastrophe.

• Use the power of Omensight to weave a new narrative, pave the way to a brighter future, and give the world of Urralia a second chance.
• Upgrade The Harbinger’s “warp flow combat” and time-slowing spells, then unleash them against enemies to devastating effect.
• Recruit a colorful cast of characters in your mission to unravel the events that brought about Urralia’s end – Ally with a song-slinging bard, martial-expert army captain, or a beer-swilling bear, all with varying accounts of how the world met its demise.

Those lucky enough to attend PAX East 2018 will have the chance to go hands-on with a demo of Omensight on PS4 and have their picture taken with The Harbinger themself! Head over to the Spearhead Games booth, #17102, for your first look at Omensight.

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It’s a pleasure to meet everyone. I’m Hokuto Okamoto, the producer of Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age. I’m ecstatic to announce the release date for the latest installment in the Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest XI, for everyone in the West: Septebmer 4, 2018!

Dragon Quest XI was developed so that it would become a culmination of sorts for the series up to now, a title that essentially represents “a new beginning” despite it being the latest game in the Dragon Quest series. The game itself has been received quite favorably by consumers since its release in Japan, and I believe the title has shaped up to become something “both nostalgic and new” for existing fans of the series, and something that ignites the desire to play the other titles in the series upon completing the game for those experiencing Dragon Quest for the first time.

The game’s scenario amounts to one of the most epic narratives in the series. Much time was spent localizing the game in an effort to properly communicate and deliver the rich localities that amass “Erdrea”, the world of Dragon Quest XI. But, reflective of the time spent, it is truly shaping up to become a wonderful game. Of course, it does not end with localization. Some arrangements are being made throughout the game to ensure greater accessibility for Western players, including voice overs and adjustments to the UI design such as the menu.

For example, the Equipment screen in the Japanese version reflects the traditional text-only UI, familiar to Japanese fans, but the Western version adopts a UI that displays icons so that it is easier to visually grasp certain information such as the weapon type.

The scenario, characters, and overall universe were particularly praised in Japan, but I’m especially excited about hearing what kind of sentiment and impressions everyone overseas will have towards the game! Please look forward to Dragon Quest XI!

PSN Pre-orders Start Today

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is coming to the West on September 4, 2018. Pre-order now on PSN to receive the exclusive “The Legend Reborn” Theme (shown above) as an instant reward, along with in-game DLC items when the game launches (Vest for Success, Seed of Skill x15, and Über Agate of Evolution x3).

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Hi there! David Leon here, studio director from the Lince Works team. We’ve got some great news that we’ve been really edging to tell you for quite some time now, so here goes.

Over the last few months we’ve been hard at work on a new expansion to Aragami. We’ve called it Aragami: Nightfall and it’ll be releasing very soon.

First off, all of us from the team want to send an immense thank you to all our fans who supported the original game. Thanks to you, we’ve been able to remain independent and develop our games in the way we want and we’d never have been able to even do something like Aragami: Nightfall if the game didn’t reach so many people.

So again, from the bottom of all our hearts, thanks for joining our stealth ninja family!

For those new to the game, let me catch you up quickly.

Aragami is a 3rd person action stealth game where you play as an undead assassin with the power to control the shadows. It’s built on our love of the true stealth classics – Tenchu, Metal Gear Solid, Mark of the Ninja. They delivered a real sense of tension and strategy, which we believe has been missing over the last few years.

To us, there is something special about being outmatched, outnumbered, and alone. Not having any ability to gun down waves of enemies in one swoop or relying on regenerating health.

Your main weapons are your cunning, your sword, and darkness. You can use your powers to play as a Ghost, remaining undetected and getting to your target without a whisper. Or you can play a total Demon, slaying everyone in your path and using your powers to wreak havoc on those who would stand against you.

Aragami: Nightfall is all of this with more added in. So, what’s new in this expansion?

What is Aragami: Nightfall?

Aragami: Nightfall is a whole new story and campaign that takes place before the events of the original game.

You will play as either Hyo or Shinobu, two deadly shadow assassins who are looking for a mysterious ‘Alchemist’. Their journey will take them through all new areas, challenges, and scenarios, answering many questions and mysteries from Aragami along the way.

For Aragami: Nightfall, we gave Shinobu and Hyo all new moves and powers. If you played Aragami before, you will notice that both new protagonists have new weapons and finishing moves, which they can use to dispose of their enemies in creative ways.

To go along with the new kills, we’ve introduced new Shadow Powers. One of the new additions is the Shadow Grenade — perfect for blinding a group of enemies.

The Kunai is making a comeback – but with an explosive twist. And finally, Twin Shadow will allow you to call upon your teammate to assassinate a specific target you marked.

The best part? Players can ninja their way through everything in single player mode, or together with a friend in online co-op.

Once again, we want to thank all of our fans for allowing — and encouraging — us to create more content for Aragami. Nightfall will be here soon, and we will show you more footage as we get closer to launch. We are always looking for comments, feedback, questions, and ideas, so don’t be shy: let us know what you think!

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AG Pilots, the time is upon you. It’s time for you to experience Wipeout in a way you have never experienced it before. Suit up and put on your PS VR headsets, because this is a rollercoaster ride like no other!

With a free update available today, your copy of Wipeout Omega Collection will be playable in PS VR. Simply update your game, switch on your headset and your main menu will transform into a 3D world with ships zooming right past you.

You can select any game mode, be it Racebox or Campaign, and play the full game in virtual reality from start to finish.

We’ve added three new VR exclusive ships in HD, Fury and 2048 classes for those with PS VR headsets. Look in amazement as you are placed into a cockpit and can zip around your favourite tracks from a brand new perspective.

Not only that but you can also enjoy the game’s soundscape in full 3D audio, making this the most immersive way to play Wipeout. The update will also feature the new remix of Shake It by competition winner Vieille Griffe.

For those of you who haven’t yet picked up Wipeout Omega Collection, now is the perfect time.

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We have some great news for those who have been waiting to jump into PlayStation VR. Starting tomorrow, March 29, we’re reducing the MSRP of PS VR, now starting at $299.99 USD/379.99 CAD (MSRP). This new pricing provides an even greater value for PlayStation fans at a perfect time, with must-play PS VR titles like Moss and Sprint Vector. There is also plenty to look forward to this year like Firewall Zero Hour, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, WipEout Omega Collection, Blood & Truth and many others.

Here are the PS VR bundles included in the MSRP reduction.

PlayStation VR Doom VFR Bundle

$299.99 USD/379.99 CAD (MSRP)
Originally $399.99 USD/499.99 CAD (MSRP)

• Includes a PS VR headset, PlayStation Camera, PS VR Demo Disc 2.0 and the Doom VFR Blu-ray Disc. Doom VFR brings the fast-paced, kinetic gameplay fans of the series love as an all-new virtual reality experience.

PlayStation VR The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR Bundle

$349.99 USD/449.99 CAD (MSRP)
Originally $449.99 USD/579.99 CAD (MSRP)

• Includes the PS VR headset, PlayStation Camera, two PlayStation Move controllers, the PS VR Demo Disc 2.0 and the Skyrim VR core game and all official add-ons. Skyrim VR brings to life the epic open world of The Elder Scrolls in an immersive virtual reality experience.

This year on PS VR it’s all about the content, with more than 180 games and experiences expected to launch by the end of the year, adding to a catalog of 220 PS VR supported titles already available in the U.S. Check out our list of games coming this spring. Whether you’re into action/adventure, horror, puzzles or racing, PS VR’s deep content lineup will allow you to discover an entirely new world of play.

So, which PS VR titles are you looking forward to playing?

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From the developers of Disgaea and Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk, Nippon Ichi Software brings The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 exclusively to PS4 today! For those of you who are worried about not having played the first game, fret not! The stories may take place in the same world, but they are standalone tales.

The game is set in a beautiful land known as Kevala, where powerful witches use terrifying sorcery to threaten residents of small villages. These witches are borne from an epidemic known as the witch disease. Unfortunately, Amalie’s younger sister, Milm, falls ill with this disease, and the helpless little girl is subsequently banished from her village. Seeking help, Amalie takes Milm to the Weisse Ritter, an organization whose mission is to eradicate the witch disease. They attempt to cure her, but the procedure fails, and Milm awakens as Chelka, a powerful witch that gives life to Milm’s doll, Hundred Knight.

In The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2, you will take on the role of Hundred Knight to do Chelka’s bidding. However, due to an incomplete awakening, Chelka is still burdened with Milm’s emotions and pain, so you must mow through lands brimming with enemies and monsters while Chelka attempts to rid herself of Milm.

With several facets that give Hundred Knight different weapon and build options, the player can enjoy a variety of gameplay styles. Want to swing a huge hammer at enemies with the Power Fortress facet? Or cast a ton of devastating spells with Marginal Gaze? Additionally, Hundred Knight has some more tricks up its sleeve in the form of Tochkas that offer extra skills, and it even has a finishing blow called Depletura! New to this game, Depletura deals additional damage to the enemy while allowing Hundred Knight to gain Giga Calories, which gives it energy to recover HP (picture eating a huge burger and having that burger feed you for days…). These additional features make battles a ton more fun, because so many skills, so many weapons, and so many enemies make for a brawl you won’t wanna miss!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Nippon Ichi game without multiple endings! And The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 is no exception. Your choices will alter the ending of the story, so there are plenty of reasons to replay and see how the tale unfolds in your hands. Will you rid Kevala of the witch disease, save Milm, or just stand by as witches destroy the world?

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 arrives exclusively on PS4 today, and we look forward to seeing you in the mystical land of Kevala! Till next time, dood!

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For Far Cry 5, Ubisoft Montreal are beefing up their post-launch support to deliver a lasting experience that will take the Far Cry franchise to places it’s never been before.

Building on the philosophy that made Far Cry 3’s Blood Dragon expansion such a roaring success, the team are aiming to deliver not one, but three huge expansions, while offering players the chance to create their own varied experiences in the ever-evolving Far Cry Arcade.

We caught up with Associate Producer Phil Fournier to find out more.

1. Different but connected

The three main DLC expansions, which will take players to wild new locations, time periods and even into space, won’t be a direct continuation of events in Hope County, but they’ll still have their own place in the Far Cry universe.

“The essence of Far Cry, for us, has always been to put players in a context or situation they’re not really expecting and I think our three story expansions for Far Cry 5 are really a great statement to that effect,” explains Fournier.

“All of the three DLCs really have their own identity – Mars, the Vietnam War, a post-apocalyptic, zombie scenario – but, at the same time, we found ways to tie them into the main Far Cry 5 narrative. You might find, or hear about characters you met in the main game in these strange new places – even on Mars! I can’t elaborate too much on that, but let’s just say there’s a character in Far Cry 5 who believes we’re being ‘watched’ and, you know, maybe they’re right!”

2. More than just a ‘re-skin’

While some expansions are designed to simply elaborate on what already exists, Far Cry 5’s DLC expansions will each constitute a deliberate deviation from what can be found in the mainline story.

“Each expansion feels like something new: you’re going to be playing with different features and new toys in uniquely-realised open-world scenarios. We’ve really invested a lot of time and effort into that ensuring these were not simply ‘re-skins’, but that that each represents its own distinct experience,” elaborates Fournier.

“We had entirely different teams, like Ubisoft Shanghai, running the development from start to finish and they really did an awesome job of capturing the essence of Far Cry 5 in brand-new scenarios and environments that deliberately turn things on their head.”

3. Everything connects back to Far Cry Arcade

A major new feature for Far Cry 5 will be Far Cry Arcade, a bold evolution of the series’ popular Map Editor mode that encourages players to take familiar assets – not just from the main game, but from past titles and partner Ubisoft titles, like Assassin’s Creed Black Flag – and build new levels themselves.

Aside from their own narrative-driven adventures, the three expansions will have something of their own to add to Far Cry Arcade. Fournier didn’t want to give too much away, but he put it like this:

“We’ve got some surprises for people who are into Far Cry Arcade. There are going to be a lot of tie-ins between the DLC expansions and Far Cry Arcade: we can’t wait to give players the tools to dream-up crazy new scenarios. What’s more, if players want to create an environment that you can’t find in any of our main games or the the expansions, it’s really up to them: they can create something brand new.”

4. Far Cry Arcade will keep the game keep evolving

The diverse sandbox of possibilities offered by Far Cry Arcade mode is designed to bring the players themselves into the creative experience and expand the world in unexpected ways. The team at Ubisoft Montreal are planning to support this in the long term…

“With the addition of Far Cry Arcade you can expect a lot more content dropping more regularly, so players can really get creative and get to build their own maps and game modes. You’ll be creating your own rules in the Far Cry universe and there’s really no limit to your imagination. I mean, you can create a map full of… bears, if you want, and stick Cheeseburger in the middle that and see what he does – maybe he’ll make friends!

“If the mainline Far Cry 5 game is a cake – with all its layers – then Far Cry Arcade is our cookbook. We give you all of the tools and ingredients and then it’s up to you, the player, to make your own scenarios, anecdotes and moments that you can share with rest of the community.”

5. The experience is designed to be collaborative

One of the things the developer seems keen to achieve with Far Cry Arcade is to break down some of the walls between the professionals who build the games and the communities that interact with them.

The ambition is simple: let players be the builders for a change and let the developers do the playing. Fournier explains how this will work:

“Once the game releases there’s gonna be a lot of maps, scenarios and missions created by various Ubisoft teams – Montreal, Toronto and others – and we’re gonna plant the seed of what’s possible with Far Cry Arcade. Then we’re gonna step back and just let everybody else loose.”

At the same time, the team are keen to avoid a free-for-all scenario where great maps and levels get buried, so you won’t just be creating, you get to champion the levels you love.

“As you finish every map there’s a rating system: if you liked it or maybe didn’t like it so much, you can let the community know. We want to promote the ideas that are the most interesting, or crazy or innovative. We want to engage the community through Far Cry Arcade and I think it’s a really great way to get a glimpse of what it takes to make a game – a complex game, like Far Cry.

“You can also expect our teams in Montreal and other offices to be running different live events to encourage the community to engage and create – in previous games we had things like Map Challenges, where we’d create a voting system to expose the work that players had done, allow people to vote for their favorites and then give out some swag.”

The system promises to create masses of community-curated gameplay scenarios that allows players to not only share their own ideas, but to promote other talented creators around them. After five years of hard work, seeing just what wild ideas will be thrown up by this is one of things Fournier is most looking forward to:

“I’m really interested to see what the community comes up with here, to see their creations being shared online and to sit down and play them myself – hopefully at home on my couch, when I finally have some time off after the game ships on March 27th!”

Here’s hoping Phil gets a well-earned break once the game is finally out in the wild! You can get all of the forthcoming season pass content, along with Far Cry Arcade and the story-driven mainline campaign with the Far Cry 5 Gold Edition, available now on PlayStation Store.

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With God of War mania in the air, Kristen, Justin and I trade notes on Santa Monica Studios’ divine action epic, hitting PS4 on April 20. Plus: Far Cry 5 impressions, Fortnite talk, news you can use, new releases, and so much more.

Email us at blogcast@sony.com!

Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Google or RSS, or download here

Stuff We Talked About

• Our initial God of War impressions
• Kristen’s ongoing journey through Final Fantasy VII
• Justin’s futile attempts to git gud at Fortnite
• Far Cry 5 (out next week, pre-order now!)

Recent Episodes

• 284: Wayfaring Stranger
• 283: Fast-Forward
• 282: Blogcast and Quill

The Cast

Sid Shuman – Director of Social Media, SIEA
Justin Massongill – Social Media Manager, SIEA
Kristen Titus – 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.]

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Step up to the plate. The long-running, critically acclaimed baseball series returns next week with MLB The Show 18 on PS4.

Developed by San Diego Studio, MLB The Show 18 expands on the meticulously crafted gameplay of the franchise with refined pitching, hitting, catching, throwing, and tagging. The Road to the Show mode also returns alongside new home run celebrations, dynamic crowds, and more than 1,000 new gameplay animations.

For a full list of new games coming to PlayStation next week, read on. And enjoy The Drop!

Atari Flashback Classics Volume 3 brings more classic arcade, Atari 2600, and 5200 games to the latest generation of consoles and – for the first time – vintage hits from M Network.

Lydie and Suelle are twin sisters, who are also alchemists, living in Merveille, the capital of Kingdom of Adalet, and they aim to make their atelier the best atelier in the kingdom.

You and your beloved friend were captured by demons. You wake up what seems like hours, maybe even days later trapped in a prison cell, and your friend is missing. You find a sword in your cell and vow revenge against the beasts who took your friend

Stuntman and engineer in one? No problem with Bridge Constructor Stunts! Build imposing ramps and loops to reach your goal in the diverse stages.

Cardia, alone in a mansion on the outskirts of a 19th century steampunk version of London is a victim of a mysterious affliction that makes her touch lethal. Cardia is pursued by the Royal Guard, kidnapped by the gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, and joined by a myriad of other handsome men from the best of western literature.

The Romance(s) continue! Experience new scenarios taking place after the main story as well as more in-depth looks at events that happened in the shadows of Cardia’s previous adventures.

Hope County, Montana, has been overrun by a fanatical doomsday cult – The Project at Eden’s Gate. On your arrival, you must spark the fires of resistance to liberate the community.

Your team. Your rivals. Your buddies. Your hometown. No matter why you play or why you love baseball, MLB The Show 18 is for a fan like you.

Choose between bikes, ATVs, UTVs, refine your rider style at your private compound and blast across massive open worlds to compete head to head in various game modes!

Preta: Vendetta Rising is a true hack-and-slash action RPG on VR! Build up your characters, craft powerful items, battle fierce monsters, raise pets to fight along your side, and challenge epic bosses with up to two other friends!

Save an island in peril on a childhood holiday. With restless spirits threatening the safety of Toromi Island’s inhabitants, Tai must venture through dangerous dungeons and across a variety of environments to put the spirits to rest. All in a summer holiday!

Soar through the sky with RollerCoaster Tycoon Joyride, a fully immersive coaster builder and rider exclusively for PS4 and enhanced for PS VR.

Tempest 4000 is a visually stunning, action-packed tube shooter based on the classic hit arcade game, Tempest.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 is an action RPG in which you use weapon combos, skills, minions known as Tochkas, and armor types called Facets to battle your way through unique worlds.

Lorne Balfe – Pacific Rim Uprising (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won (Live) [Remastered]

Various Artists – Isle Of Dogs (Original Soundtrack)

Jack White – Boarding House Reach

Proud Mary

DCU: Suicide Squad Hell to Pay

Don’t miss the series premiere of Billions, Sunday, March 25, 2018 at 10pm ET/PT on SHOWTIME

Silicon Valley, March 25 at 10p/9c and Barry March 25 10:30p/9:30c on HBO

The Pied Piper crew is back and getting reckless as they return for a new season of the hit comedy series, Silicon Valley, on Sunday, March 25 at 10p/9c on HBO. And at 10:30p/9:30c, don’t miss the all-new dark comedy series, Barry, starring Bill Hader as a low-rent hitman from the Midwest who falls in love with acting while on a job in LA.

The information above is subject to change without notice.

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Last week, we asked you to bring the lens a bit closer by creating portraits from the game of your choice. You shared shots of your favorite characters with us using the hashtags #PS4share and #PSBlog, and we’ve looked through the stunning entries to choose this week’s highlights.

@misterbayek caught an intimate moment between Bayek and Aya in Assassin’s Creed Origins.

Aloy peers out from the shadows in @fox_hzd’s submission from Horizon Zero Dawn.

Lara has been through the wringer in this survival portrait of the Tomb Raider from @merry.gone.round.

@chxrkenne shared this detailed shot of a steely-gazed Senua from Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.

We couldn’t resist sharing another stunningly detailed shot of Aloy, shared by @Darkshinfei.

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: Action Shots
Share by: 9am Pacific on Wednesday, March 28

This week, share your best moments of characters in the middle of an action shot, taken from the game of your choice. We’re talking chase scenes, mid-air leaps, thrilling fight scenes — share anything that happens where the action is to #PS4share and #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

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