Author: Game Infliction

The PlayStation Black Friday sale is now officially live, bringing a slew of incredible new deals for you to consider. For starters, there are the PlayStation 5 bundles, down to at least $375, but then there’s the PlayStation VR 2 bundle for $350, $20 off DualSense Controllers, discounts on games, and so much more.

The sale going live means we are one step closer to Black Friday proper, with deals for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo already confirmed. Let’s dig into all the best PlayStation Black Friday deals.

TL;DR – Best PS5 Black Friday Deals

• PS5 Cobalt Star Bundle (Digital) – $374.99
• PS5 Cobalt Star Bundle (Disc) – $424.99
• PlayStation VR 2 (Horizon Bundle) – $349.99
• DualSense Controllers – $54.99
• Elden Ring – $19.99
• Alan Wake 2 (Deluxe) – $49.99
• Stellar Blade – $49.99

PS5 Black Friday Deals Are Now Live

PlayStation VR 2 is $349.99 for Black Friday

DualSense Controllers Get a $20 Discount for Black Friday

DualSense controllers are down to just $54.99, a significant drop from their $74.99 MSRP. Even better, special edition DualSense controllers are also discounted, now priced at $59.99.

It’s been a long time since DualSense controllers saw a discount this good, making now the perfect opportunity to grab one – or even two. Whether you’re upgrading your PlayStation setup or shopping for the perfect Christmas gift, this Black Friday deal is too good to miss. Here’s everything you need to know about the offer and why it’s the ideal time to buy.

PS5 Black Friday Video Game Deals

The best PS5 video game deals for Black Friday currently include Elden Ring for $19.99, alongside new games like GOTY contender Metaphor ReFantazio for $49.99, or incredible new physical releases like Alan Wake 2 Deluxe Edition. Have a look over our top picks in the sale, or take up the challenge yourself and have a gander over the many, many discounts found at Amazon today.

More Black Friday PS5 Game Deals

• Elden Ring: SOTE Edition – $49.99
• Persona 3 Reload – $24.99
• Cyberpunk 2077 UE – $39.99
• Unicorn Overlord – $29.99
• Shin Megami Tensei V – $24.99
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard – $62.99

PlayStation Plus Black Friday Deal

Sega has today announced the iconic Virtua Fighter series will be making its first appearance on Steam with Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. Described as the “ultimate edition of this legendary game”, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. will feature rollback netcode support and 4K graphics with “updated character models, stages, and cinematics.”

A specific release date has not been confirmed, but Sega’s announcement has noted it is set to arrive sometime during the northern hemisphere winter.

The news comes via Sega’s official social channels.

The legendary fighting series makes its Steam debut with Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.
Launching on Steam this winter!
Wishlist today: https://t.co/XKmUhkXBVchttps://t.co/W8FnWyxpMf#VF5REVO #Steam

— SEGA (@SEGA) November 22, 2024

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. can currently be wishlisted on Steam, where it’s also confirmed players will be able to compete against up to 16 others in new online modes, including Tournaments and League.

First released in arcades in 2006, the original Virtua Fighter 5 was subsequently ported to the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2007. An initial revision called Virtua Fighter 5 R arrived in 2008, which was quickly followed by the misleadingly-titled Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown in 2010 (although that didn’t hit home consoles until 2012). In 2021, Final Showdown was remastered for PS4 in 2021 as Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, but now the “ultimate edition” of Virtua Fighter 5 will actually be the upcoming Virtua Fighter R.E.V.O. If that makes sense.

Earlier this month Sega let slip that “another Virtua Fighter” was being developed, although it’s now unclear whether this was a reference to today’s announcement or a long-awaited sequel.

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can chat to him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.

Few games let you smite hundreds of enemies with grandiose attacks as well as the long-running Dynasty Warriors series does, and so in a sense the latest one, Dynasty Warriors Origins, is competing with its past self. But with an enhanced combat system that rewards and incentivizes parrying and perfectly dodging enemy attacks and a more significant focus on telling the story of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms novels from a new perspective, it made a great first impression. These elements were all up my alley for a new Dynasty Warriors game, and playing it left me feeling a sense of wonder, intrigue, and a hunger for more.

Playing Origins was one of those odd phenomena where the images on the screen finally matched what my younger brain had seen when playing earlier games in the series. Bases were bigger, forests were lusher, and the screen was filled with more enemies for me to slash and punch on my way to victory than ever before. The spectacle and visuals of Origins are the best they’ve ever been, and sure, a lot of that is thanks to the power of modern hardware, but it’s also the quality of everything on display. Long gone are the barren lands and mostly identical trees of Dynasty Warriors 9’s open world, the repetitive textures on buildings, or the rockfaces surrounding most levels in games before that. Origins’ world and characters are full of life, and each one is detailed more than ever, from their armor to their weapons.

Furthermore, Dynasty Warriors Origins introduces a new overworld map mechanic to traverse between battles. This diorama-like map can be explored to find various towns or cities to purchase items, NPCs to converse with, and missions to undertake. I only got to view a small portion of the map, but I did catch a glimpse of a fast-travel button, meaning there are most likely at least enough of these areas to explore to warrant the need for such a system.

Origins’ story is told from the perspective of a new original protagonist who will be interacting with important warriors such as Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Lu Bu. Yes, that Lu Bu. Origins’ story, as the title suggests, also occurs earlier than its predecessors, so the recognizable allies and enemies all have a new youthful vibrancy in and out of combat. And that combat, by the way, felt great. Every swing of my sword or staff was responsive, and perfect parries or dodges were accompanied by flashy animations, with perfect parries giving an even more considerable advantage in turning the tides on opponents. And combos feel better than ever when chained with special moves and other abilities meant to pre-empt enemy attacks and knock them off balance. Add that to the sounds of the yellow turban army shrieking in fear and death and the cheers of my allies as my KO counter rose into the hundreds, and it felt like the quintessential Dynasty Warriors experience I had been missing for years.

Some may be surprised or caught off guard when hearing about things like perfect parries or dodges in a Dynasty Warriors game. I’m happy to report that those who want to button-mash their combos through hordes of enemies will be able to do just that on the lower difficulties, just like in the older games, but for those wanting to push themselves and challenge the harder difficulties, they’ll need to make full use of these systems. Playing on Hero mode saw even regular enemies removing larger portions of my health bar, which typically only happens when facing off against named generals. I put this to the ultimate test against the man, the myth, the legend Lu Bu, who fought the entire battle atop his steed until breaking his guard. His introduction is nothing short of what veterans will expect from him; he entered the scene as if he were the game’s main character, instantly deleting entire squadrons of my allies and causing them to scream in terror. Now, I don’t know how he scales between all the difficulties, but on the hardest one available during my demo (Hero difficulty), I managed to trigger the second phase of his fight and reduce him to under 40% before running out of healing items against his onslaught of unblockable attacks that dented over half my health per hit. This battle alone has sold me on the combat of Dynasty Warriors Origins.

The only immediate downside I found with Dynasty Warriors Origins so far is the inability to play in co-op, as this series has been a staple for those wanting to play co-op online or split screen with friends and siblings. While I’m not going to completely let the developers off the hook for this, there is at least a built-in compromise: during mission preparations, you can select an allied general to accompany you, and during the mission, you can take control of them for a short period of time. This helps turn the tide in battles, especially if you are low on health or want to destroy many enemies in a shorter period. These generals are much stronger than the protagonist in the game’s early hours, and while I only activated the ability twice, I learned two things. First, it was incredibly fun and gave me a great taste of other weapon types, and second, it was clear that this mechanic is meant to be one of those you activate when you need to go all-in on a fight.

You also gain access to various tactics along the way, like commanding a squadron of archers to rain arrows on enemies. These abilities are fine on their own, but if you use them at the right time or in the right conditions, they can have an even more powerful effect to devastate armies and lower opponents’ morale. Morale has always been another component of Dynasty Warriors, because whichever side has the higher morale gains bonuses in combat. In Origins, this is best exemplified by the red armor plates on enemy generals that reduce the damage you deal until they are all removed. Once all the yellow and red plates are removed, they become vulnerable to powerful assault attacks that make you untargetable while dealing out significant damage to both the enemy you’ve broken and any unlucky enemies nearby.

Meanwhile, the customization system is back, and throughout the story, the protagonist will gain access to a handful of weapon types and skills called arts. The more you use the various weapons and arts, the more proficiency you gain to unlock new arts or upgrades for your current arts. To complement your weapons and arts, there are also several skill trees that will unlock things such as extra item slots to carry into battle, or enable the new extreme musou attacks that allow you to combine with your allies for even larger, deadlier special moves that devastate crowds and stronger enemies. Starting out, I only had access to a single sword. Still, after defeating a general, I unlocked the ability to wield their twin pikes in future missions, which will be an incentive throughout the game to challenge all the generals in a mission, not just those set as mission objectives.

Dynasty Warriors Origins has the potential to be the crown jewel in the venerable series with its improved focus on combat, customization, and enhanced visuals. It’s been nearly 20 years since I found myself eagerly waiting to play the newest Dynasty Warriors, but with the updates and enhancements I’ve seen so far in Dynasty Warriors Origins, that streak is no more. I walked away from my two-hour demo session with a renewed interest in a series I once treasured and am eager to get more time with when it releases in January.

Every time I play Path of Exile 2 – and I’ve been lucky enough to play it a few times now – I grow more confident that it’s going to be special. I’ve now played as the Hunter, Monk, Witch, Warrior, and most recently Mercenary. You’d think that I’d be tired of doing 2+ hour sessions with each of the classes, but the inverse is true. I can’t wait to dive back in. Its beta release on December 6 can’t come soon enough.

I’m going to focus this preview on the Mercenary. While it’s not my favorite of the classes, the Mercenary is very unique in that it transforms traditional Path of Exile gameplay into what you would expect from a top-down shooter. This class, which focuses on the use of a crossbow, has you start by firing 7 rounds of bolts at any approaching enemies. You’ll then slowly unlock new skill gems that add abilities that will snipe, rapidly fire Armor Piercing Rounds, lob a grenade, freeze, set on fire, or otherwise set you up for success against the waves you’ll come across.

This transformation to a shooter is intentional, with Grinding Gear Games’ Jonathan Rogers embracing the challenge the class gave them by taking lessons from other titles in the shooter space that they then built upon. While I found that I missed the thwack of the Monk’s staff or the agility the Hunter’s bow offered I can see how the Mercenary could be an attractive option for new players who may be more familiar with other genres and entering the ARPG space for the first time.

The one reason I feel the Mercenary is held back is because of the sheer amount of reloading needed, as it happens when you swap between firing modes or run out of ammo, leading to a bit more downtime than I liked in the early game.

That said, the class does start coming together and feeling quite powerful around the graveyard section of Path of Exile 2. This seems to be the point where all the classes really begin to come into their own and give players a peek at their endgame potential. By this point I had: a grenade launcher that shot three projectiles and did increased area of effect damage, a gun that fired ice that slowed and froze approaching enemies, and a fire shot that lit everything on fire that came near me, but also pushed back approaching mobs with force. These building blocks give you a chance to begin placing perks into the abilities you like the most. Especially because your passive skill tree journey will have likely unlocked a bonus or two that allow you to begin building the character you will use to continue through the campaign.

Into the Endgame

A large focus of my preview event for Path of Exile 2 was a behind-closed-doors presentation focused on the endgame path you’ll be taken on. While I didn’t get hands-on time with it, Rogers took us through the endgame challenges, including a massive world map to be cleared and end-game activities that they think players will keep coming back to for hundreds of hours.

In a roundtable interview, when asked about the endgame he said, “If we don’t have a good endgame going into early access, then Path of Exile 1 players are just going to say, ‘Hey this is just a worse game.’ We need that stuff to be able to actually make a POE1 player feel like, ‘Oh yeah, you know what? This is a true sequel to POE1.’” And boy does it look like they delivered.

To give you a peek into what’s planned for December, the first half of the campaign, including Acts 1-3, will launch first and should take you around 25 hours to complete. The endgame awaiting you after campaign completion promises a lot of exciting new ways to power up your build. I got a small sneak peek at some of those endgame chases as part of a 2-hour presentation detailing several of the modes you’ll be able to chase.

While there are eight primary endgame modes planned at the launch of early access, you’ll be introduced to a few during the campaign. They include several sequels to popular leagues from the original Path of Exile, with more to be launched during early access. I saw the Trial of Sekhemas, which has you enter a series of rooms that each have unique challenges, like filling a blood chalice by defeating red enemies in the area. Or surviving increasingly difficult enemy spawns before a timer runs out. These floors each have several challenges like this, and at the end of each, after a boss fight, you’ll have a choice to cash in keys you’ve collected or proceed to the next level for a chance at better loot. Die, or have your “honor” reduced to zero by being hit too many times and you’ll be kicked back to the beginning. To improve your chances, there’s water you’ll collect that works as a currency to buy items during your run and help you along. Some relics can also be found or crafted. One relic teased the chance at a coveted unique item, but you’d be forced to complete this Trial with only 1hp.

In addition to the rewards, this will also give you access to the Altar of Ascendency, where you get to pick one of three Ascendency classes at the end. In early access there will only be two Ascendency classes to start with. We got a peek at the Witch’s Infernalist Ascendency class that lets you summon a hellhound who will set everything next to it on fire once it is summoned. It also had the bonus of being the one who takes damage for you if you’re hit.

They also showed off the Witch’s Demon Form that allows you to become a winged monster who is faster, does more damage, and casts spells faster, but also takes damage as you remain in the form.

Keep in mind this is just the first endgame mode, which on its own seems like it would be able to provide hundreds of hours of fun challenges.

I also got a peek at another endgame system called the Temple of Chaos, which will be encountered in act 3. This Temple can be entered after you acquire a token from the trial master, and the event was called a sequel to the Ultimatum league from Path of Exile 1. You enter the Temple, and pick a modifier like Blood Globules (which are globby blood orbs that will spawn and follow you around in the sky before falling quickly to earth in an attempt to damage you). Or Shocking Turrets that make a grid of electricity occasionally shoot across the battlefield. These modifiers stack, and you’ll still need to complete the normal map challenges like trying to survive, killing everything in the room, or escorting a giant hammer across the map until it reaches its destination.

And the final endgame activities revolved around the Ziggurat location, where you can access a world map and travel to various spots to dispel corruption. Here you can clear towers, defeat bosses, or clear Breaches. There’s also the Expedition League sequel that has you plant dynamite across a map to unearth cool loot and unlock new abilities on gear. There are Delirium maps that increase difficulty and allow you to earn more passives from your passive tree. And they even teased an Uber Pinnacle boss that you’ll need unique keys to access. They said that the Uber Pinnacle boss would offer a challenge for longtime players as it’s promised to be the hardest content in the game.

The rewards included a new gem system for your weapons, armor, and passive skill tree. The latter gives you the ability to socket unique gems into the tree that give you enhancements to anything unlocked in the vicinity of the socket, or additional boosts that give you the chance to further empower your build. And all of that is on top of an entirely unique Atlas skill tree which will let you unlock perks that are specifically tied to each of the endgame modes.

Buckle Up

There’s so much to cover from the Path of Exile 2 preview event and I’m only scratching the surface here. Each of the modes described could have an entire video dedicated to discussing strategies and options for tackling them to get player rewards. There’s going to be an almost overwhelming amount of loot to chase across several systems to keep me entertained and I can’t wait. One note from the Grinding Gear Games team was that at the start, everything I’ve described is only half the content. The playable classes, number of story acts, enemies and bosses will all double throughout the early access period, with more league sequels also on the docket for endgame.

Path of Exile 2 will be free to play, but to get in on December 6th for early access you’ll need to buy a $30 supporter key which will also give you in-game currency to spend. However, if you’ve spent $500 or more in the last 10 years of the original Path of Exile then you’ll get in for free for being a longtime supporter.