Commander Fury

As many of you know, PlayStation Now lets you stream hundreds of PS3 games — currently 483 to be exact — to your PS4 and Windows PC. We’re excited to announce that PS Now’s catalog is set to grow even further, as we’ll be expanding to include a new platform: PlayStation 4 games. All of the games in the service, including PS4 games, will be included with a single PS Now subscription. We’ll share more information as we get closer to launch, so stay tuned. In the next few weeks we’ll kick off a private test with PS4 games on PS Now. If you’re an active PS Now subscriber, keep an eye on your email in case you get an invitation. If you’re new to PS Now, the subscription service offers access to a large and ever-expanding library of games. Since PS Now utilizes our cloud streaming technology, you can access the entire catalog of games, select one, and start playing quickly without needing to wait for downloads. Also, PS Now uses cloud saves, letting you start a game on PS4 and continue playing on another PS4 or even a Windows PC (or vice versa). If you haven’t given the service a try yet, now’s the perfect time to give it a spin with the seven-day free trial. Here’s a list of some of the most popular games on PlayStation Now during February: Red Dead Redemption Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Mortal Kombat WWE 2K15 The Last of Us Mafia II Injustice: Gods Among Us NBA 2K14 Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution Batman Arkham Origins View the full article

Strafe is coming to PS4 — but you knew that and you’ve been saving your hard-earned dollars to buy the Best Game Ever Made since the day it was announced. But what you didn’t know is that Strafe hits PS4 on May 9. That sound is blood gushing out of your ears at an alarming rate. According to the Pixel Titan’s marketing department, Strafe is a roguelike first-person shooter that’s pushing the limits of computer-generated photorealism and hardcore sci-fi action into unimaginable territory. You play as a Scrapper on an impossibly dangerous mission at the edge of the galaxy. You only have one life to navigate all the nightmarish terrains of Strafe. When you die, nothing will ever be the same again. The team at Pixel Titans is psyched and/or hyped to bring our game to PS4. We’re super thankful to the PlayStation team that made it happen. The project has been years of pixilated blood, real sweat, and delicious tears, and we’re beside ourselves with excitement to finally bring it to the PlayStation community. Our hope is that you enjoy the craftsmanship and love that went into making Strafe. Get ready for the white knuckle action, attention to detail, and intricate secrets that’ll make you come back for more, run after run. View the full article

Subscribe via iTunes, Google or RSS, or download here Happy Friday, ladies and gentlemen! It’s our pleasure to present a brand new episode that features not only the recently revealed Middle-earth: Shadow of War, but also the upcoming They Shall Not Pass DLC from Battlefield 1. That’s right, two (2) featured interviews in one (1) podcast! Bonus: the team continues to gush about Horizon Zero Dawn, and Ryan just barely prevents Sid from falling down a Darkest Dungeon tangent again. Enjoy the show! Stuff We Talked About Middle-earth: Shadow of War Battlefield 1: They Shall Not Pass Managing gaming time The Persistence & Starblood Arena for PS VR Disc Jam Horizon Zero Dawn Destiny No Man’s Sky PS4 System Software Update 4.50 Recent Episodes 240: GDC Ya Later 239: Bring Me That Horizon 238: Take Me Out to the Ball Game The Cast Sid Shuman – Director of Social Media, SIEA Justin Massongill – Social Media Manager, SIEA Ryan Clements – Sr. Social Media Specialist, SIEA Zac Minor – Sr. Social Media Manager, SIEA Send us questions and tips! blogcast@sony.com Leave us a voicemail! (650) 288-6706 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

Who could possibly pull off the heist of the century and expose a deadly conspiracy woven throughout a world of Dark Elves, Dwarves, and Men? Why, Styx the goblin, of course! The small jack of all trades is back next week in Styx: Shards of Darkness, coming to PS4. A new stealth game set in a dark, fantasy world, Shards of Darkness will see Styx slinking through underground cities and haunting mines in an effort to score big. Use his skills, traps, and cunning to outwit and outmaneuver opponents, or recruit a friend to join you in the new cooperative campaign. For a full list of new games coming to PlayStation, read on. And enjoy the Drop. New Releases: Week of March 14, 2017 #killallzombies PS3 — Digital (Out 3/16) #killallzombies is thrusting civilians into a fight for survival against the unleashed population of ravenous zombies. And you are the only one who is destined to stop them. ACA NeoGeo Sengoku PS4 — Digital (Out 3/16) Sengoku is an action game released by SNK in 1991. Players fight against ghosts that have been revived in modern times in a devastated Washington City. Blue-Collar Astronaut PS4, PS3, PS Vita — Digital (Cross Buy) Fly across the cosmos delivering pizza, pulling freight, and paying off your student loans! This easy to play but hard to master 2D spaceflight genre-buster will have you literally and figuratively exploring upwards mobility on your way to fulfilling the space-dream! Chaos Code -New Sign of Catastrophe- PS4 — Digital (Out 3/15) Chaos Code -New Sign of Catastrophe- is a simple yet highly flexible 2D fighter where players can enjoy the thrill of fighting with flashy moves! Choose from 16 unique characters and fight in ranked matches to earn the top spot. Danganronpa 1-2 Reload PS4 — Digital, Retail Hope’s Peak Academy — home to the nation’s best and brightest high school students… and your new prison. You and your classmates have been trapped here, forced into a winner-takes-all killing game. You’ll have to solve the mystery of the school to survive, but be careful what you wish for — sometimes, there’s nothing more deadly than the truth… Death Squared PS4 — Digital Get together with a loved one, a group of friends or even the whole family and guide teams of two or four robots through increasingly-complex levels to their color-coded goals. But beware! The path through each level is littered with cunning death traps that quickly send the automatons to the big scrapyard in the sky. Dying: Reborn PS Vita — Digital Let’s play a game. It’ll help you remember something you locked away, deep in the recesses of your mind. Dying: Reborn is a dark, horror-themed puzzle game that creates a unique first-person room escape experience. Eekeemoo — Splinters of the Dark Shard PS4 — Digital In this awesome third person adventure game you will help Eekeemoo rescue his friends from the clutches of the evil Dark Shard! Your quest will take you deep into the Dark Shards four corrupted splinter worlds. Kona PS4 — Digital (Out 3/17) Northern Canada, 1970. A strange blizzard ravages Atamipek Lake. Step into the shoes of a detective to explore the eerie village, investigate surreal events, and battle the elements to survive. The first installment in a series of four games, Kona is a chilly interactive tale you won’t soon forget. Leave the Nest PS VR — Digital If you’ve ever had a dream of flying, wanted to feel the wind in your hair, wanted to soar and dive among trees of the forest, race trains and cruise perilously close to dangerous volcanoes, then this game is for you. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight PS4 — Digital (Out 3/16) Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is a fan-favorite, 2D action-platformer with highly satisfying combat and gorgeous pixel art. Combo and dodge your way through a cursed land to seek audience with the Queen and dispel the evil that threatens all life. NeuroVoider PS4 — Digital NeuroVoider is a twin-stick shooter RPG set in a futuristic world about brains shooting evil robots with nuclear rocket launchers. Boost your character with the smoking remains of your victims and defeat the master NeuroVoider to end this eternal war. Siralim 2 PS4, PS Vita — Digital (Cross Buy) Siralim 2 is an old-school monster catching RPG. Summon and customize hundreds of creatures to fight for you as you battle your way through endless dungeons. Find rare treasure and use it to upgrade your castle, empower your creatures, craft powerful artifacts, learn new spells, and much more. Styx: Shards of Darkness PS4 — Digital, Retail Hired for a critical mission, explore and master huge open environments as Styx, alone or in co-op with a friend. Assassinate or sneak past enemies — Humans, Elves, and Dwarfs — but also much more fearsome, colossal creatures, and experiment with a new array of lethal abilities and weapons in your goblin assassin’s arsenal. Trove PS4 — Digital Thirsting for danger? Lusting for loot? Then grab your friends and set off for adventure in this free-to-play, voxel-based action MMO. Whether you want to battle deadly monsters, loot epic treasure, explore wild realms, build brand new worlds, or just show off your style, Trove’s got you covered! Beauty and the Beast Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Bush – Black And White Rainbows The Shins – Heartworms Why Him? Silence A Monster Calls Conan- March 12 at 11/10c (TBS) Hap and Leonard- March 15 at 10/9c (SundanceTV) Impractical Jokers- March 16 at 10/9c (truTV) The information above is subject to change without notice. View the full article

I’m Alexandre Assier, Producer of FlatOut 4: Total Insanity at Kylotonn Games in France. I’m proud to give you some developer insight into this new version of the FlatOut series. I’d like to talk about one of my favorite environments in the game: The Desert. At the beginning of the project, we had brainstorming sessions as a team to work out where our new FlatOut game would take place. For us, one of the environments that was an obvious choice for the game was the Desert. When we considered the vibe of FlatOut — destruction, humor, places to do insane races — the first place in most of our minds was the American desert. There’s something particularly wonderful about smashing through desert shacks in a classic muscle car while firing off a magnetic bomb at your unwitting opponents in the all new Assault mode. We decided to push ahead with this idea and started to design the different areas the player might encounter. The first one was the Canyon environment shown here in early concept art: The idea was to give the player a variety of experiences and emotions. The Canyon area will give the player a claustrophobic feeling fraught with danger. It’s like an abandoned road that has been closed for some time. It’s a technical section, very difficult to overtake opponents, compared to other sections of the track where the player can rely more on their Nitro for gaining advantage. The second area was the Ghost Town: The different areas were intricately designed to create diversity of path and varied gameplay. You always have a main road, but if you try to go off tarmac you’ll be able to fill your nitro gauge with destructible objects. Sometimes you’ll also find shortcuts! We fell so in love with how the desert environment started to come together as we play tested it, we decided to highlight it as our Main Menu environment — the first visuals of the game that the player sees when they launch the game. We’d also like you to know that for the PS4 Pro version, we have pushed the visual quality of the game to be even more impressive. We hope you check out FlatOut 4: Total Insanity and love it as much as we loved creating it. View the full article

Surprise! Liverpool-based developer Firesprite is cooking up a disturbing first-person horror experience, and it’s coming to PlayStation VR. The setup is simple but fun. You’ll play onboard The Persistence, a research vessel sent to study a collapsing star. When an experiment triggers a catastrophic failure, the ship’s computer attempts to save the day by reconstructing the deceased crewmembers. Unfortunately, it also introduces hideous errors in the process, transforming them into gibbering mutants. Oops! Playing as a crewmember awoken from cryosleep, you’ll navigate the doomed ship, try to get the engines back online, and escape the ravenous clutches of the nearby black hole. The ship itself is procedurally generated, so each time you die, you’ll awaken as a new character facing a new ship layout, different threats, and new opportunities. And die you will — death is an integral part of the gameplay loop. As you play, you’ll collect stem cells you’ll use to enhance your character after death. Benefits like increased speed, health, and stealth that will help you stay alive long enough to complete the game. As for weapons, your trusty sidearm is the Stem Cell Harvester, which syphons precious cells from enemies, with fatal results. The Gravity Bomb drops a miniature black hole to devour nearby mutants, while a Rage Serum injector grants you temporary super-strength for hand-to-hand pummeling. There are more conventional firearms, too, including a pistol that fires dark-energy-infused rounds. I enjoyed my time with the game. Its techno-horror atmosphere gave me flashbacks to System Shock 2, and its roguelike qualities should give it some serious longevity. I also liked how the developers introduce systems to better accommodate VR play, such as a teleport maneuver you can use to close the gap on helpless enemies. I also got a peek at a smartphone companion app that could make the game a party hit. Nearby players can log in to the ship’s computer to view the level layout and identify upcoming threats or items. Help or hinder? The choice will be yours. No details yet on a release date, but The Persistence is heading to PS VR and it’s definitely on my radar. View the full article

It’s not every day we get to explore a game world as rich as that of Nier’s. The recently released Nier: Automata introduces a wealth of lore for both newcomers and fans of the original to get acquainted with. As pointed out in yesterday’s tips guide, you don’t have to play the previous instalment to enjoy Automata’s bot-on-bot brawling. But players venturing into this weird and wonderful universe may find themselves asking a few questions. Questions like: “Where have all the humans gone?†“Why is Earth ruled by machines?†and “Who gave this blindfolded goth-loli a sword?†To answer these — and add some context to the game’s post-apocalypse — you’ll need to take a look at the wider timeline of Nier. But to save you the trouble, we’ve poured through guidebooks, light novellas, and even a Yoko Taro penned stage play (Yes, really) to collect some of the most significant in-game events leading to Automata’s opening act. Fair warning before we begin — spoilers for both the original Nier and Drakengard (we’ll explain in a moment) ahead. Nier started as an alternate ending for an entirely different fantasy adventure. First, let’s step back in time to the year 2003 (both in Nier’s universe and our own). Even amongst series fans, it’s a little known fact that Nier’s world is a spin-off from the PS2 game Drakengard. The game featured multiple endings, and it’s the fifth of these which resulted in the timeline of Nier. It was in this scenario that Drakengard’s giant Queen Beast antagonist was teleported through time to modern-day Tokyo — where she was promptly dispatched by the game’s fire-breathing hero. This turned out to be pretty poor move for us humans however, as the giant’s death unleashed a rather nasty disease on mankind. That ending transported a fantasy beast to modern day Tokyo, unleashing a killer virus. From its origin in downtown Shinjuku, the disease “White Chlorination Syndrome†spread with devastating effect. Most that contracted it were gradually turned into salt, whereas some turned violently insane. By 2009 the country had become a warzone between uninfected humans and a mad unstoppable horde called “Legion.†With the Japanese government unable to contain the outbreak, the epidemic became a pandemic, and since the world’s scientists could find no cure, an ambitious workaround was conceived. Androids are built to monitor the production of new human bodies for those infected. Project Gestalt was established, in which human souls would be transferred safely out of their infected bodies, to one day be placed into healthy clones. Naturally, this process would take some time to perfect, so development began on android AIs which would oversee the operation. Sure enough, hundreds of years passed before the disease began to die out. Human clones known as Replicants had been successfully grown, but unexpectedly (and unfortunately for their originals) had also developed their own sentience. Thousands of years later, the events of Nier occur, and doom humanity to extinction. The world was now entirely populated by these engineered doppelgangers, each with new personalities and souls, and it’s here (around the year 3361) that the events of Nier occurred. Like Drakengard before it, there were four possible endings to the story and it’s the fourth of these (Ending D) which Automata follows on from. In this, protagonist Nier threw a wrench in the gears of Project Gestalt and effectively doomed humanity to extinction. This marked the beginning of mankind’s inevitable decline, but in parts of the world where the android AIs were still in control, a handful of Replicants continued to survive. Eight thousand years later, Earth’s invaded by alien machines, and humanity fights back. Fast forward another eight thousand years and things still weren’t exactly looking up. As if to add to its troubles, Earth had been invaded by “machine life forms†and what remained of the human race finally felt that they’d had enough. They disappeared off to the relative safety of the moon, from where they could dispatch teams of combat androids to fight back the invasion. The android teams fighting the invaders include you, and so Nier: Automata begins. This brings us back up to date, to the year 11,945. One such android team (designated “YoRHaâ€) is being shipped off to Earth, and amongst its members are NieR: Automata’s two protagonists: Unit 2 Type B and Unit 9 Type S (affectionately known as 2B and 9S.) We join them en route to their latest objective — to kick some “machine life form†butt and reclaim our planet. And there you have it! A whistle-stop tour of the world of Nier: Automata. For the next slice of the story… you’ll just have to pick up the game. View the full article

While this news is not just for Steven Universe fans, it’s sure to get Steven Universe fans talking. Rebecca Sugar — creator of Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe, The New York Times bestselling author, Emmy-nominated writer/animator, beloved human — has co-created Save The Light, a new console game based on the global TV show phenomenon. It’s coming to PS4 this year. Save the Light is a sequel to the mobile game Attack the Light from 2015 — both games developed by Grumpyface Studios and published by Cartoon Network. However, Save the Light was just too big a concept for mobile, pushing us to build a console-sized game for the sequel! But what is Save the Light? What we can tell you is it’s a unique RPG that combines elements of real-time and turn-based combat. Players can customize their party using many of the characters from the show as they play through an original story co-written by the aforementioned Rebecca Sugar. And since Rebecca had a hand in making Save The Light, you know that surprises await fans… gamers… all of us. Grumpyface’s Chris Graham said this game is “bigger, deeper, and has more epic adventures designed for consoles†compared to Attack the Light. What does he mean? I’ll let Chris explain: “This time around we’re featuring an updated battle system with fully customizable character selection, more emphasis on exploration and puzzle-solving in 3D environments, and an all-new story from the brilliant Rebecca Sugar and her Steven Universe show team. “Best of all: Save the Light has been designed to serve as an entry-point for players unfamiliar with Steven Universe, while also giving super-fans new surprises and insights into the show’s captivating world and lore.†So what is this story? Glad you asked! Save The Light begins when a mysterious warrior arrives in Beach City and steals a powerful weapon, and then it’s up to the Crystal Gems to embark on the magical mission to end all magical missions. Steven and the Gems must travel far beyond Beach City, battle an army of creepy creatures, and stop a no-good Prism-snatcher in order to Save the Light! Everyone involved with the game is super excited to show fans at PAX East a first look at Save the Light at Cartoon Network’s booth. Gamers, fans, and looky-loos can also see a special gallery of concept artwork and meet the Grumpy team (Yes, in person!). Chris Graham from Grumpy (same guy giving you the inside scoop above) will also be on Cartoon Network’s panel “Going Indie With Steven Universe & OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes†on Saturday (10:00 AM in the Dragonfly Theater). If you can get up that early and join the panel, attendees will receive a code for a free download of Attack the Light on iOS and Android (We are not above giveaways!). View the full article

Hey all! Usually creators drop by PlayStation.Blog to announce one exciting thing, but we’re actually announcing two side-by-side (That’s cool, right?). First off: Cartoon Network is launching the brand new animated television series OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes, created by fan-favorite Ian Jones-Quartey (Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Secret Mountain Fort Awesome). It’s a bonkers cartoon world with video games at its core that centers on the youngster K.O. and his adventures around Lakewood Plaza Turbo — including doing battle against the rival robot forces of Boxmore. (That’s exciting thing #1!) But why announce a TV show on PlayStation.Blog? Because alongside the show, we’re creating a console game for OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes with PS.Blog regular, Capy! You probably know them from Super Time Force Ultra, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, and most recently, Don’t Starve: Shipwrecked. (That’s exciting thing #2!) OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes creator Ian Quartey-Jones’ has been a gamer since childhood — he even won a PS2 in a Toonami sweepstakes back in the day! IJQ was inspired by games, and brought that love to his creation, filling the world of OK K.O. with tons of video game references, tropes, and easter eggs that PS4 players will be able to spot and appreciate. When we asked Ian about it, he said: “For me, video games and animation have a lot in common and having fun is the main goal. OK K.O.! is a video game-inspired world expressed through the language of animation, but mostly an adventurous playground with heart-warming heroes who battle against robots.†Since video games are so integral to the soul of the show, we knew we had to develop a console game alongside it. We needed a studio that would appreciate Ian’s crazy vision and bring their own equally-crazy style to it. Enter Capy! Capy’s Nathan Vella said: “If you know Capy, you can see Cartoon Network’s influence all over our games, and to get to be part of building K.O’s world is one of the coolest things we’ve done. With the show, Ian is cramming the soul of video games into a cartoon. Capy is setting out to do the reverse — mash the language of cartoons into a video game.†The game will follow the TV series and wrap up all the kooky characters into an action-brawler meets RPG, hitting PlayStation Store sometime in the fall. Until then, OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes will be at PAX East this weekend with a gallery of concept artwork at the Cartoon Network booth, special footage revealed at our panel on Saturday, and the Capy guys hanging out all weekend! View the full article

“88 playable characters? Are you crazy?!†is probably what we should have asked ourselves before we started work on 88 Heroes. But no, as with most of our previous games, we were determined to bring something new to the genre we were tackling, even if it was almost commercial suicide and would push the development team to their limits! 88 Heroes is our third platformer. We’ve also had success with Super House of Dead Ninjas, a game with a multitude of weapons available to the player and each one affected how you played the game. It was largely this that inspired us to create a game where it was the heroes themselves that changed the gameplay, rather than the weapons. A few games had touched on similar concepts before, such as The Wonderful 101, Broforce, and Rogue Legacy, but none of these forced the player to constantly change characters every minute or so and adapt to their new abilities. The game itself is a 2D platformer played against the clock where each completed level or untimely death brings a new hero into the fray. Dr.H8 is holding the Earth ransom, threatening to destroy the planet in 88 minutes if his demands aren’t met. Players can’t hang around if they want to complete all 88 levels before the time limit expires. Of course, this means you’ll have to complete each level in an average of one minute to stand a chance of stopping Dr.H8, so taking shortcuts and using ingenious methods to traverse the levels is highly encouraged and almost essential! Coming up with 88 different heroes was a considerable challenge. Although there are a few heroes with overlapping abilities (such as running, jumping, and shooting), we wanted to include as much variety as possible so that players would be pushed to learn new techniques and think outside of the box. For example, Retro Reptile controls just like the old Nokia mobile game, Snake. Booster Goose will feel familiar to fans of Asteroids, and Toxic Snot pays homage to Wizball. Of course, every hero had to be capable of completing every level, so we had to take particular care with the level design and testing, with Captain Colossus causing us a lot of problems purely because of his height! Although the core team had many years of game development experience behind them, 88 Heroes was the most ambitious game any of us have worked on. Making a platformer in and of itself is far from trivial, but creating a game with 88 playable characters rather than just one or two was insane! Each hero had to be prototyped before any art or audio could be produced, with the artwork in particular being a massive undertaking. Some heroes had particularly complex abilities, too, which would take days or weeks to get right. It was only when we had something like 10 heroes in the game that the concept began to shine through — jumping between heroes every time you finished a level or died helped keep the game fresh, and you never knew which hero you’d end up with next. So, why 88? There were many times during development that we considered changing the number to something less daunting, such as 77, 66, 44, and I’m sure there was even talk of 22 at one point! I always had a fascination with the number 88, going back to my teenage years when I used to play Area 88 on the Super Famicom, and the number was also on my car license plates from back in 1999. Crazy fact of the day: I imported an FTO to the UK after becoming hooked on Gran Turismo, without even taking it for a test drive! I have since grown up and am far more sensible now. Fortunately development continued to go well; all 88 heroes and levels eventually made their way into the game with the fun increasing the more we added. So much so that for the boxed PS4 version we’ve added two more heroes and eight new levels in a special H8 Mode that is particularly taxing even for experts! Having spent two years making this game, we’re thrilled to finally be able to release it and see other people playing it. We’ve had a GR8 time making 88 Heroes, and we hope you enjoy experiencing all the 88 heroes and discovering some of their hidden talents! We asked Dr. H8 for a parting thought… “Get outta my face, human scum! I despise your puny planet. Extinction is imminent, so enjoy the very last pointless moments of your pathetic lives!†View the full article

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is coming to PS4 and PS Vita this fall. Some of you are excited, and some of you are asking yourself “What’s Ys?†Well, let’s answer that for you! Put simply, Ys (pronounced “eesâ€) is an action RPG series that follows an adventurer named Adol Christin as he travels to far-flung lands, saves the day through silky-smooth combat, and is completely oblivious to the swooning of maidens on his quest for adventure. But that’s to put it simply. Those two letters hold a lot more meaning for a lot of people — and for good reason. For some, those two letters define action adventure. For others, they’re a rousing intersection of some of gaming’s best music and tightest gameplay. To get into what those two letters really mean, I think we need to go back a little bit. 30 years, to be exact. The BackgroundIn 1987, Falcom — a then six-year-old company that had so far released everything from golf to Mahjong games — released an RPG called Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished Omen that eschewed turn-based battles found in most RPGs for a “bump attack†system that kept the action moving. The game’s protagonist was Adol Christin, a red-headed adventurer who left home at sixteen to find adventure and chronicled his travels in a journal. Since that first game, Adol Christin has charted an exciting path; games in the series have been released and re-released on everything from TurboGrafx-CD to PS4, Ys has spawned its own anime miniseries, and the franchise has captured the hearts, hopes, and wanderlust of adventurers everywhere. It’s been successful because of a few key components: upbeat stories of adventure; smooth, addicting action; and lovingly-composed orchestral music that ties it all together. The StoryEvery Ys story has its place in the timeline of Adol, but as any true adventurer knows, the most important thing isn’t the order or destination, it’s the journey. As the lore goes, each Ys game tells a tale from Adol’s journal entries. Each one tends toward a mostly straightforward plot, episodic narratives, and a few recurring characters. Thankfully for a series with the roman numeral for eight in its newest game’s name, the tales they tell don’t need to be experienced in order — each one welcomes new adventurers and weathered wayfinders, alike. Adol has an unnatural knack for finding himself in new locations in need of an adventurer to go on an epic quest. And, thankfully for him, his pal Dogi seems to have a similar knack. More often than not, these two venture into jungles, mountains, and beyond in search of a good time, and generally find an epic fight or two along the way. The ActionThe first Ys game’s bump attack system meant that players never spent time waiting for a battle to start, or selecting “attack†from a menu. Just run into an enemy from the right direction, and you’d pack a wallop. No attack button, no careful choice of attack, just action. While the bump attack system was left behind after the second game in the series, the fundamentals that spawned it — speed, fun, action — are alive and well in each and every Ys installment. Since Ys Seven, combat is fast-paced and sees you quickly switching between characters as the situation dictates to deal the proper type of damage. Even in normal encounters, the Ys series offers blood-pumping combat that rewards quick reactions, intelligent planning, and pattern recognition. But the boss battles are so epic that you might just find yourself completely lost in rapture, hands gripping the controller tight as the heart-pounding soundtrack beats the rhythm of your battle. The MusicI’m not joking about the heart-pounding soundtrack. The music that accompanies Ys games is truly the work of artistic geniuses. Falcom’s in-house JDK Sound Team creates iconic music for each game. If you want a taste of that sweet soundtrack goodness, you can check it out on Spotify right now. I’ve been jamming out to it the whole time I spent writing this. Might I recommend listening to track 5, Sunshine Coastline? Ys VIIIWhich brings me nicely to the newest game in the series, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. Ys VIII takes all the elements that make Ys, well, Ys, and polishes them. The story is more evolved than ever, and for the first time in the series, whole gameplay chapters are devoted to our heroine, Dana. The action shines with some truly epic boss battles, and the controls never get in your way. Then there’s the soundtrack, which, well, just go listen to it. I am super excited to say that Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana will be hitting PS4 and PS Vita this Fall in North America and Europe with dual audio in English and Japanese, and in-game text in English and French. We’ll have many more details on both versions next time I join you here. Until then, get an even deeper look at the history of Ys in this great retrospective article, and bookmark the game’s official website to see news about Ys VIII as we announce it! See you next time, dood! View the full article

Hello, GT fans! We’re extremely excited at Polyphony to announce the Gran Turismo Sport Closed Beta. Beta participants will get a sneak peek at how Gran Turismo will pave the future of racing, competing in highly competitive races against other users across the country, and eventually, across the globe. Participants will be able to choose from a select rotation of cars and tracks each day to race online against others during the Beta phases. Track and car selections will vary during this period, and we made sure to offer different race class categories and course configurations to properly test our GT fans! This will also be the first time users will see how the Driver Profile is integrated within GT Sport. The introduction of Sportsmanship Rating (tracks a player’s behavior and manners on-track) and Driver Rating (represents the overall speed of the player and how well they perform in races) will ensure those that race online will be equally matched, naturally creating a balanced group of competitive drivers for every race. The initial phase of the closed Beta, starting on March 17, will only be open to selected U.S. PSN IDs, so be sure to check your Messages on the PS4 dashboard to see if you’ve been invited. As with most Beta programs, in order for the development team to capture data in an optimal manner, the sample size needs to be increased gradually and in stages. While we begin to roll out the Beta, we have decided that the time differences across the U.S. are best matched to the development team in Tokyo. During the initial phase, our servers will be open for users during specific times across the day. We will share these times closer to the Beta launch across our social channels and GT.com. And for anyone who doesn’t get a chance to participate in the closed Beta, you can sign up for updates here. I hope to be back on PlayStation.Blog soon to announce more details regarding a larger Beta access for the community… stay tuned! Please refer here to see a full list of beta terms and conditions. View the full article

Hello, PlayStation world! I’m Tao Zhang from TiGames, a VR developer based in China. I’m honored to introduce you to a new game for PS VR: Ancient Amuletor. Ancient Amuletor is a game which combines elements of shooting, tower defense, and other genres to create a new experience for VR. In Ancient Amuletor, players can choose different heroes and be the peacekeeper of a magical world. Each hero has his or her own unique gameplay mechanic. It sounds a bit like a MOBA, right? Yes, we really want players in VR to experience a new type of hero-based gameplay. We’ll have four different heroes for you to play: an archer, gunslinger, mage, and puppet master. More heroes will be available via DLC in the future. We built a number of game modes and a variety of difficulty levels, from ancient Egypt to Rome, and even boss battles. Of course, we know that one hero cannot defend the entire world by him or herself, so we will also provide online co-op with friends so your heroes don’t have to be alone. Ancient Amuletor is being published by Time of Virtual Reality and will be arriving this summer for PS VR. We’re eagerly looking forward to the game’s launch, and to reading all of your comments. If you wish to play the game before it goes online, then come see us at PAX East 2017. We’ll be excited for you guys to come and try Ancient Amuletor. View the full article

Today we are releasing a new update to Sharefactory that includes our biggest feature as requested by the community, including user imported content, Clone Clip, editing from the Capture Gallery, plus much more. We’re extremely happy to be able to allow users to import video and images into Sharefactory, as our community have been requesting this feature since launch. Using content from a USB drive, you can import your own videos and images to be used as your custom intro, title and outro clips as well as use your own artwork as stickers. It has never been easier to personalize your Sharefactory videos to share to the world. The new update also adds the Clone Clip feature. This addition allows you to easily duplicate any clip being used in your project and retain all of the existing filters, stickers, text as well as the clip duration. This enables much quicker editing when using the same video and effects throughout your edits to share your gameplay experiences. Additionally, Sharefactory’s 2.50 update allows you to select up to 16 video clips or screenshots from your Capture Gallery and launch directly into Sharefactory for editing. This feature will quickly create a project using the content that is selected in the Capture Gallery – making creating and sharing a video easier than it ever was before. Other features in this update include: Added over 30 textures you can use to personalize your text as well as the ability to freely scale your text New Infomercial Sharefactory Theme New Photo Mode collages with support for up to 16 images New Photo Mode Templates New stickers Contextual Help has now been added throughout Sharefactory Updates to the UI The feedback we receive from our users is very important to the team. Please continue to reach out and show us your Sharefactory creations. We love to see them! We’re looking forward to seeing the new content that PlayStation fans will be sharing with this new update. Have fun and happy editing! View the full article

Hello, this is rdein. I’m the creator of the Momodora series and the main designer for Reverie Under the Moonlight, the latest instalment in the series. Our team, Bombservice, consists of four people: Hernan, who did animation and some programming; PKBT, who did programming; notoriousKnave, who worked on the soundtrack, and myself, who did the art, programming, design, and sounds. I have very fond memories of playing gaming classics such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Chrono Cross, way back in the original PlayStation days, and it’s that attachment that got me into making my own games in the first place. Those titles (among a few others) are truly inspirational to me, so I felt that it would be natural for me to try creating my own games based on the ideas I have. Now, it’s very exciting for me to have one of my games launching on a home console. With that said, it is a great pleasure to bring this entry of the Momodora series to PS4! This game, which is actually the fourth Momodora game, is the work I’m most proud of. For those who are unfamiliar with these titles, they play like old-school side-scrolling games. This one in particular leans towards a more combat-oriented gameplay rather than platforming challenges. There’s a focus on mixing melee and ranged attacks, together with timing dodge rolls to avoid enemy damage. Personally, I feel like Reverie Under the Moonlight greatly expanded on the direction the previous entries were going for, and this improvement should be mostly noticeable in the gameplay and the visuals. I should also mention that, even though this is the fourth entry in the series, its story acts as a prequel to the other previously released titles, and is set many centuries before them. The main character of this game, a priestess called Kaho, is the one who served as a role model for many characters present in previous Momodora games. Because I had teased her before, I thought it would be interesting to create a game starring her, as she played a major role in the world of Momodora. In some ways, her story is like an origin story for the lore of the series. Because of that, even if you haven’t played any other Momodora games, there isn’t any risk of missing out on any plot elements from previous games. In fact, some elements in the previous games may become a bit clearer through clearing Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, but I wouldn’t want to spoil anything now. When I casually got interested in making games, working on a game like this felt like a distant dream. It’s been a long road since then, and a very interesting learning experience. I’m very grateful for that, and I hope I can keep improving upon my designs from now on, learning more to realize the future ideas I have in mind. But for now, please have fun with Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, which is launching March 16 on PS4! View the full article

Nier: Automata, the latest from Square Enix and PlatinumGames, is out now on PS4. If you’re looking for an engrossing RPG and you don’t want to skimp on intense combat, this might be the game for you. After spending the last fortnight trekking across Yoko Taro’s wonderfully bizarre sci-fi world, there’s several things I’ve learned along the way. Here are six tips to help new adventures, and best of all: no spoilers ahead! 1.) You Don’t Need to Play the Original Yes, Nier: Automata is a sequel. But it’s still a perfect place to start. This game offers a brand new story set thousands of years after the original Nier. In this new instalment, Earth is at the hands of machines from another world. 2B, the main protagonist, is an android sent to Earth by a unit force named YoRHa to help humanity reclaim the planet from invaders. While fans of Nier will notice a few nods to the original, knowledge of the first game is absolutely not required to enjoy Nier: Automata’s story. 2.) Experiment with Different Weapon Sets In true PlatinumGames fashion, the combat of Nier: Automata is full of over-the-top combos. You can equip up to two pairs of weapons at a time, and even toggle between these sets mid-combo for more variety. Feel free to experiment with these sets and the combat system; there are many opportunities for diverse play styles with different types of weapons equipped. 3.) Collect and Install Computer Chips to Alter Your Abilities, Change Them at Will The main characters of Nier: Automata are androids, and their combat abilities can be conveniently customized with plug-in chips. You’ll find a lot of different chips during your journey, and you can allocate them to 2B to give her new abilities and skills. You can slow time when bullets come your way, get health points back as you inflict damage on your enemies, or even add shock waves to your attacks. Alternatively, you can play for fun, and add a distinct — and highly comedic — sound effect for individual enemies when you strike them! But be wary: each chip has a storage value and will take a certain amount of space to be allocated, so you’ll need to carefully pick which chips you prefer to use within that space. You can change your set at any time, and upgrading your android’s space is easy. You can also fuse chips together to make them stronger or prioritize smaller storage values, so dive into the system to find the perfect balance for your gameplay style! 4.) If You Need Extra Money, Go Fishing Nier: Automata’s underwater world is full of all kinds of fish just waiting to be caught. If you find yourself short on money and really want that new weapon at the shop, take a small fishing trip for a fun mini-game. It’ll be well worth it! 5.) Explore to Find Secrets! Nier: Automata isn’t just an action game — it’s very much an open-world JRPG, so don’t forget to fully explore it. As you travel, you’ll stumble on hidden shrines that will reward you with new weapons, as well as hidden areas with unique NPCs and even Easter eggs. 6.) The Ending Credits Are Only the Beginning Most importantly, Nier: Automata isn’t finished when the credits roll. Similar to the original, your first playthrough reveals less than half of the full story. Keep playing: there’s much more to discover. View the full article

Here at Hello Games we’re excited to be launching our next free content update for No Man’s Sky. We’re calling it the Path Finder Update. It adds planetary vehicles plus lots more to our game, and shows the path forward for the future. We were surprised, excited, and overwhelmed by the positive response to our last update (Foundation), and it made us even more passionate about continuing to update this game we love. Here’s a summary of the things we’ve added: PlayStation 4 Pro Support Improved Visuals Owning Multiple Ships Base Sharing Online New Vehicles — Exocraft Permadeath Mode Build Vehicle Race Tracks Ship Specializations and Classes Shop/Traders Double the Base Building Variety Multi-tool Specialization and Classes New Weapon Modes Photo Mode Discovery Menu Quality of Life Improvements 50% more original music from 65daysofstatic That’s a lot, but let’s give a little more detail about some of the biggest additions. As the title suggests, Path Finder heralds a new era of planetary exploration in No Man’s Sky. New vehicles, called Exocraft, enable explorers to travel at great speed across even the most inhospitable planetary terrains. There are three Exocraft to unlock and collect through Base Building, each of which can be further improved with powerful weaponry, mining equipment, and long-range scanners to maximize their effectiveness. For those seeking the ultimate challenge, we’ve introduced a brutally difficult new game mode called Permadeath. Not only does this mode mirror the high difficulty level of Survival mode (which, by the way, has been made harder with damaged ships crash landing on planets), but dying will also wipe your saves and start you from the beginning. Of course, this deserves recognition, so new Trophies have been introduced for Survival and Permadeath mode. No Man’s Sky has never looked better, with a host of visual improvements including new high resolution textures, improved lighting, ambient occlusion, and of course PS4 Pro support. Players looking to capture their favorite moments can also make use of a new photo mode. This screenshot tool lets players change the time of day, increase or decrease fog and cloud levels, unlock their camera for the perfect angle, and even add filters to their screenshots. We can’t wait to see what the community can come up with! Each ship and weapon in the game now has a specialization (like fighter, hauler, scientific) and class (A, B, C, and the ultra rare S). New offensive weapon types have been added for starships and multi-tools, and you can now purchase multiple ships and store them in your freighter. The full patch notes are pretty lengthy, so head over to the official Path Finder website for more info. Thank you again for your support. We hope you enjoy. View the full article

I love boss fights. They’re the ultimate test of skill — the highest gameplay and emotional peak. They’re the reason I love to make games. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing players get totally crushed by a terrifyingly gargantuan beast. Today, I’m really excited to announce Sundered‘s third boss: Legion & Salvation. Legion & Salvation are the masters of Sundered’s third domain, the Eschaton City. A terrible mash up between an Eschaton Cultist and a Valkyrie General, this boss truly shows the horror of what lies deep within Sundered’s entrails. Big boss fights have become somewhat of a trademark for Thunder Lotus, but this one is a little different. Legion & Salvation are a bit smaller than our other bosses. It’s also the first time we do a double boss (clones don’t count for those of you who’ve played Jotun), and we were heavily influenced by another great boss: Smough and Ornstein from Dark Souls. Tons of emergent gameplay happens when all three entities interact. Beware of their enraged attacks — they become particularly dangerous. Over the last three years, we’ve streamlined and improved our development process in many ways. To create a boss, we start with the story. Where is it from? What does it represent? What themes do we want to convey through what it looks like? Then we move on to gameplay. What player abilities or mechanics do we want to test? How can we make this boss different from other bosses? Can we do something that no one has ever seen before? Once we have an idea, it’s time to test it both visually and with a prototype. We’ll do some concept art to start getting a feel of what the boss looks like, how it moves, the mood it conveys. In parallel, we’ll start coding a prototype. What kind of attacks does the boss have? Does it move in a special way? Does it have specific patterns? Once these are done, we’ll do some rough animations. These replace the programmer art and allow us to really get a feel for the boss. We make adjustments, then move onto final animations. Once these are in the game and boss is fun, we ship it off to music and sound-effects. For me, a game without sound is a game without life, so this is when I can really see if the boss comes together or not. Ultimately, Legion & Salvation are also the perfect reflection of Sundered’s core themes: the battle between Eschatons and Valkyries, the loss of humanity into madness, and epic gameplay moments. Resist or embrace. View the full article

When we had our big re-reveal of Rime at the beginning of the year, the response was amazing. Our puzzle adventure game, inspired by the Mediterranean Sea and watercolor paintings, really struck a chord with a lot of people. And for all the people working on the project, it was the first time that the reality of the situation hit — after nearly four years in development, Rime is close to being released. And now we can be even more specific and are excited to confirm that Rime is coming to PS4 on May 26! In Rime, you play as a young boy who washes ashore a mysterious island after a torrential rainstorm. You don’t know what’s going on; you simply see a massive tower at the island’s center, and you feel compelled to reach the top. As you progress, you (along with a helpful fox guide) begin finding clues about what happened, and what the island’s true purpose is. There are a lot of layers to the narrative, and it’s all told wordlessly through visuals and music. I can tell you that it’s tricky telling a story without saying anything, but it’s also satisfying — it allows players to discover the truth themselves. Our goal with Rime was not only to create an enchanting and engaging adventure, but to craft a game where you see the world through the eyes of a child. We decided to move in this direction because there’s something so universal about it; after all, we were all children at some point. Occasionally you’ll need to think back to how you would approach this mysterious world when you were a kid. You wouldn’t be scared of it; you’d want to see what was at the top of the tower. It’s been a very personal experience for us to create, and we think it’s all been worthwhile. If you’ve been following Rime since the initial reveal back in 2013, we thank you for sticking with us through the years. And if you’ve only just heard of Rime, we can’t wait to welcome you to this amazing adventure! We’ll see you on May 26. View the full article

More shocking than an alien spider jumping at your face, I’m happy to reveal Farpoint co-op! The undiscovered planet in Farpoint is unpredictable and dangerous, but no longer does it have to be a solitary experience. You and a friend can explore the planet together in cooperative levels. Farpoint places you on on a distant hostile world with your only chance of survival and escape being to uncover its secrets and reunite with your team. In addition to the full single-player campaign, sharing the virtual world of Farpoint in co-op has been a key objective of the project from the beginning. Farpoint features four new online* co-op levels at launch — each level designed to challenge the combined firepower of two players with teams competing for the highest score. To help players meet the challenge of Farpoint, we have been working with PlayStation to develop the PS VR Aim controller which simulates the look and feel of a weapon in your hands right down to the virtual scope and built in haptic feedback. Playing Farpoint with the PS VR Aim controller not only gives you precision accuracy and unprecedented immersion when playing through the campaign, but since the controller tracks the movements of your co-op partner, it gives their character a new level of expression. When your friend leans over to look through the virtual scope on their weapon, you’ll see their avatar do it as well! To go along with the co-op theme here, I want to take this opportunity to tell you that fans who pre-order Farpoint will be able to suit up in the exclusive Red Planet Wanderer Spacesuit Skin. Farpoint launches May 16, 2017 in the U.S. and Canada, either bundled with the PS VR Aim controller for $79.99 USD/$99.99 CAN (MSRP) or standalone for $49.99 USD/$59.99 CAN (MSRP) in both physical and digital formats. For more information and the latest updates on Farpoint follow us @ImpulseGear on Twitter and Facebook. *PS Plus membership required to access online features. View the full article

It started small. A game jam between friends from college. The idea was simple: a world of inverted physics. Gravity would pull outward instead of in. Then they wondered, what would be the best way to explore these strange new bubble worlds? How about a flying game? A flying game where you could freely explore this realm — now called the Inverse — so different from our own. A place filled with monolithic ruins and the mystery of the ancients who came before. It was different. It was fun. It was trippy. Whatever it was, this was a game that needed to be made. And so, this group of friends from Dallas created their own development studio, PolyKnight Games. They shared their vision on Kickstarter, and they quickly hit their goal. InnerSpace was born. Flash forward a year. We, Aspyr Media, descended on PAX South to get our hands on every single unique game we could find. We came to InnerSpace. A crazy little plane was flying around and somehow diving underwater. The art was ethereal. The music was otherworldly. We didn’t know quite what we were seeing. We just knew this was a world we wanted to explore. We sat down with PolyKnight and started to talk. Back then, InnerSpace was set to release on desktop with just a couple of levels. We wanted to know if PolyKnight had the extra time and resources, what the best, fully-fleshed-out version of InnerSpace would look like. PolyKnight shared their vision, and their vision became ours. Hands were shook. Documents were signed. Drinks were poured. And today, after countless hours of work — and so, so much play — we are proud to share with you that InnerSpace is coming to PS4 this summer. Greatness awaits! To celebrate, we’ve got three InnerSpace songs for you to check out, right here on PlayStation.Blog From the very beginning, InnerSpace had very specific design goals. The focus would be on discovery, those small and grandiose moments that are player-driven. An ancient world of gods and mystery, that reveals itself at your pace. The end goal was to encourage experimentation, exploration, and epic encounters with enormous creatures. Inspired by the likes of Proteus and Shadow of the Colossus, but with, you know, airplanes that turn into submarines. We can’t wait for you to fly. This summer, your greatest journey is within. View the full article

Wow — For Honor was the most-downloaded PS4 game from PlayStation Store last month! Of course, Horizon Zero Dawn made a massive debut, landing at the #2 spot with only one day of sales counted here. Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin made a beefy debut on PlayStation VR, but not quite beefy enough to dethrone the unstoppable Job Simulator. Who woulda figured the first thing people want to do in virtual reality is work? March is gearing up to be huge, continuing an insane start to this year’s gaming catalog. Who do you think will reign supreme in next month’s charts? (My heart says Nier, my head says Mass Effect.) PS4 Games 1 For Honor 2 Horizon Zero Dawn 3 Nioh 4 Battlefield 1 5 Grand Theft Auto V 6 TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE 7 ARK: Survivor’s Pack 8 Rocket League 9 Madden NFL 17 10 EA SPORTS UFC 2 11 Need for Speed 12 EA SPORTS FIFA 17 13 Minecraft: PlayStation4 Edition 14 RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard 15 Battlefield 4 16 STAR WARS Battlefront 17 NBA 2K17 18 Mortal Kombat XL 19 Titanfall 2 20 Bloodborne PS3 Games 1 Need for Speed Most Wanted 2 Grand Theft Auto V 3 Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 4 Fight Night Champion 5 EA SPORTS FIFA 17 6 NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM Revolution 7 Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition 8 Dragon Ball Xenoverse 9 The Last Of Us 10 Battlefield 3 11 Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 12 Battlefield 4 13 NBA 2K17 14 LittleBigPlanet 3 15 Tales of Xillia 16 Mortal Kombat 17 Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch 18 Tales of Xillia 2 19 Life is Strange 20 Mass Effect Trilogy PS4 Add-ons 1 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – DLC1 Sabotage 2 TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE – Year 2 Pass 3 NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 4 ROAD TO BORUTO Pack 4 The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited – ESO Plus 5 Rocket League – Hot Wheels Twin Mill III 6 RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard Banned Footage Vol.1 7 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – Season Pass 8 Rocket League – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Car Pack 9 Black Ops III – The Giant Zombies Map 10 STAR WARS Battlefront Season Pass PS VR Games 1 Job Simulator 2 Psychonauts In The Rhombus Of Ruin 3 Carnival Games VR 4 Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes 5 Fruit Ninja VR 6 Batman: Arkham VR 7 I Expect You To Die 8 PlayStation VR Worlds 9 Until Dawn: Rush of Blood 10 Surgeon Simulator: Experience Reality PS Vita Games 1 Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom 2 Tales of Hearts R 3 FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster 4 Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z 5 Darkest Dungeon 6 TOUCH MY KATAMARI 7 Severed 8 Need for Speed Most Wanted 9 Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition 10 Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed PS Classics 1 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 2 Bully 3 Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy 4 The Warriors 5 Twisted Metal: Black 6 FINAL FANTASY IX 7 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City 8 FINAL FANTASY VIII 9 FINAL FANTASY VII 10 FINAL FANTASY VI View the full article

After 55 weekly updates and approximately 200 pizzas eaten during its development, we are proud to finally release NeuroVoider on PS4 March 14. And if you weren’t lucky enough, the launch of NeuroVoider on consoles comes with more of everything: more enemies, more environments, more explosions and, of course, more BOOM VIIIZ ZAAAP KABOOOOM. We crafted NeuroVoider as an action-packed, top-down, twin-stick shooter featuring RPG mechanics. With four-player cooperative support, it’s an adventure with hack ‘n ‘slash rampaging, featuring a pinch of roguelite and a bunch of explosions. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to play as one of the four human brains kept as test subjects, and lead Mankind’s last hope against the Evil Robots of the master NeuroVoider. Easy peasy. It’ll definitely be easier once you unlock and load the Doom bringer and unleash your pew pew pew power. If you don’t want to end up as bloody brain remains scattered on the cold floor, you’ll have to loot and assemble parts from defeated foes so you can build your own robotic entity to pilot. As icing on the cake, new dark synth tunes from Dan Terminus will be included for your speakers (and neighbors) pleasure! NeuroVoider has already gathered a small community of twin-stick lovers skimming the leaderboard with their Prophetic Mini-Nuke of Mother Bleeding. If that doesn’t do it for you, I don’t know what will. We are Flying Oak Games, a two-man team composed of Florian (the pixel magician) and Thomas (It’s me! I’m the “tech and other stuff†guy.), and everything started around some pizza. Before working on NeuroVoider, Florian and I had the habit of spending our Friday nights together playing local multiplayer games like TowerFall, Borderlands, and Nuclear Throne. Playing with friends, all together on the couch with a slice of pizza, is what we like the most in gaming! Hence, we were quite obliged to create our own take on the four-player, action-packed style of those games. NeuroVoider was born! Explosions, dark synth music, high replay value, and a good dose of difficulty to spend the whole night having a good time, alone or with a bunch of friends. We are really looking forward to bring NeuroVoider to your console! Cheers guys! View the full article

Monolith has been keeping busy. Following the success of 2014’s hit Shadow of Mordor, the studio began concepting a direct sequel that would attempt to fully deliver on the scale, spectacle, and savagery only hinted at in Mordor. The result? Middle-earth: Shadow of War, a sprawling action-RPG epic due out on PS4 this August. Last week, I was able to watch a lengthy demo complete with color commentary from Michael de Plater, the game’s creative lead. It made for fascinating viewing. My main takeaway: Monolith is pushing their Nemesis technology hard for Shadow of War. A wise approach, given that Nemesis is one of the more promising technical innovations in recent memory. In short, Nemesis simulates a living world, at least in broad strokes. It catalogs your actions and doles out consequences and tailored experiences appropriately. It’s a way to make each player’s story feel more personal and unique. In 2014’s Shadow of Mordor, the system allowed for startling random encounters. Slay an orc leader and Nemesis might make him return later, uglier and nastier, spouting a colorful one-liner referencing his fate and proclaiming his vengeance. But in Shadow of War, Nemesis seems to be headed in bolder, more intriguing directions. Yes, you’ll still encounter death and destruction, but also stories of betrayal, loyalty, even friendship, according to de Plater. Because Nemesis’s tendrils can now bind characters and environments, each player’s game can play out that much differently. You capture an orc fortress. Do you reward the loyalty of a follower by naming him overseer, or gain a sensible strategic advantage by handing it to a veteran war chief? Either way, you’ll live — or die — with the consequences. Meanwhile, the game is looking cinematic as hell. Don’t take my word for it; watch the video above. Orcs and humans alike boast expressive animations, camera angles skew wildly to capture your attention, and stylish character interludes inject drama. There’s a lot to love here. Deeper customization and loot for the RPG-minded, more gruesome combat for the gorehounds. Meanwhile, the new fortress conquest scenarios shown in the gameplay debut hint at a bigger, yet more focused experience. So far, so good. Will Shadow of War top Mordor? We’ll find out for sure this August. View the full article

Hi everyone! My name is Ben Tester from Wales Interactive. We have something brand new for all the full-motion-video and choice-driven narrative fans out there! Introducing Late Shift, a cinematic FMV crime thriller with branching storylines. Written by Michael R. Johnson, the author of the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, Late Shift arrives on PS4 this April. After being forced into the robbery of a lucrative auction house, student Matt is left proving his innocence in a brutal London heist. Your choices will have consequences from the very start, right through to the end. One small decision could change the entire outcome in a choose-your-own-adventure style gameplay that can lead to one of seven conclusions. The game features more than 180 decisions in total, and however big or small they may seem, any one of them could be the turning point, sending you off on a different branch of the story. Some players may reveal harder to reach endings, some may make friends or enemies along the way, and some may even play different chapters because of a series of choices which are evaluated at key points in the game. You’ll have mere seconds to make your decisions as the film seamlessly continues to roll with no pauses and no looping footage. We invited Director Tobias Weber, to join us today with a bit of insight into the multi-optional writing and filming process. Take it away, Tobias… “We started writing Late Shift like a normal film, but soon had to abandon the industry standard scripting software. It very quickly got too confusing. We therefore invented a kind of hybrid between flowchart and traditional film script, which allowed us to properly write dialogue while keeping track of the logic behind the film. “This multi-stranded script became the backbone of our production. We stuck to it all the way from writing, to shooting, to post-producing the film. Even the composer used it for reference when he wrote and produced the soundtrack, which sounds like a film score, but is as dynamic as any game score. “Shooting Late Shift wasn’t always easy. When the actors saw the script for the first time they refused to work with it. Everyone had to be educated about the new format. Keeping track of a production like this is demanding, continuity is a nightmare. “Eventually though everyone, cast and crew, got accustomed to the process and at the end we all became quite proficient I should think. The main cast was terrific. Joe and Haruka (lead actors) did a great job, and they basically knew the entire script by heart. We would first film one story strand, then move on to a variation of it. Then we’d change camera angle and do all the variations again. At times it was confusing, but somehow we did it! “Already during post-production we had a lot of people test the movie, as we wanted to avoid any beaten tracks within the film. It was very important to us that all the endings would be reached, and that all choices were evenly balanced. “Luckily so far in all the screenings and testing sessions, we’ve seen all the endings time and again, though some are certainly less common. But the achievements are in the details, I guess. Not everyone outsmarts the thieves, anticipates the villain’s moves, gets to spit in the antagonist’s face, or… well, you’ll have to wait and see to reveal your version of the story!†Now, for the completionists out there, you’ll have the option to replay the story to find the different routes and hidden chapters, being rewarded with Trophies (including a Platinum). Developed by CtrlMovie and shot in full HD across London, Late Shift’s cinematic experience blends the line between movies, games, and interactive storytelling. You won’t have to wait long as the game lands on PS4 this April. Thank you all for reading and please do leave your comments below! View the full article