Category: IGN

Depressing fantasy worlds are nothing new, yet Bramble: The Mountain King surprised me with its dark Nordic folklore. Instead of sanitizing these fairy tales like a classic Disney film, Dimfrost Studio openly embraces its most disturbing elements, presenting a twisted world brimming with atmosphere. Calling this grim adventure a horror game isn’t quite right, though after a lengthy hands-on preview on PC, I’m finding this a captivating yet creepy tale.

Before jumping in, Bramble warns you about its heavy subject matter, which covers themes like suicide, infanticide, and animal cruelty. Original fairy tales often find young children in dangerous situations, so this isn’t surprising, but it’s worth noting for anyone unaware. Playing a young boy called Olle, this tale begins innocently enough with a nighttime trip into the forest to find your older sister, Lillemor. That soon turns into a rescue mission as you traverse this twisted forest.

While many games incentivize going beyond the beaten path, Bramble keeps exploration strictly linear from A to B. Going forward is often your only option with no backtracking, sometimes breaking this up through climbing or light platforming segments. You can look over a few highlighted objects on your journey, like pinecones and storybooks, and that’s about it. One occasion involved turning a matchbox upside down to release a hidden key, but aside from the game’s opening, I didn’t find any similar interactions across three hours of playtime.

Exploration feels basic and simplistic events that break up these moments, like playing hide and seek with gnomes, feel more distracting than meaningful. What keeps Bramble interesting is its narrative, and Dimfrost strikes a delicate tone with its environmental storytelling that never truly leaves you at ease. I also can’t shake the uncanny valley feeling when looking at Olle and Lillemor. Yet, the dark forests and beautiful meadows create a strong presentation that keeps this haunting world intriguing.

However, it isn’t long before Bramble’s unpleasant elements counter these pleasing sceneries. Seeing a giant severed animal head thrown to the floor upon entering a butcher’s cave made me quickly realize the bleak realities of this world. Watching Olle walk through a disgusting pile of guts with flies surrounding the rotting flesh just feels wrong, and this sequence eventually leads into the game’s first battle. Sadly, that fight never gets more interesting than dodging a cleaver and throwing rocks at this gargantuan foe.

These depressing lands hide many terrifying beasts; some encounters require a stealthier approach. One incident involves running away from a giant at night, hiding in tall grass whenever it shines a light towards you. Another saw me encounter Näcken, a lake creature whose enchanting music draws people to their deaths. Escaping Näcken means hiding behind whatever cover you can find while his music played at regular intervals. These moments keep the game exciting, illustrating Olle’s struggle well, and Bramble is very much a David and Goliath story.

Visiting Skogsrå’s Grove was a major highlight during this preview, as Olle fights a Forest Nymph known for luring men to their demise. Taunting him with visions of Lillemor, this encounter was my only boss fight during this preview. Split between three stages, I found myself attacking targets strung up against the trees, former victims whose beating hearts gives them power. Thanks to some brutal one-hit kills, you can’t cheese combat. Though the Nymph’s hollow back would typically signal an obvious weak point, it took several attempts before I realized how to weaken her. Frequent checkpoints thankfully minimized my frustrations upon dying.

It’s the most intriguing fight I’ve encountered so far, and what followed after besting her has me questioning my actions. Bramble prompts you to stab her dead body through a repeating quick-time event, gradually covering Olle’s face in blood. I went along with it, falsely believing this was necessary before realizing I never needed to stab her. I don’t know if this affects the story later, but I wondered whether I’d done the right thing. She was undoubtedly wicked, yet Olle’s raw emotions got the better of him.

Bramble does plenty of things right with this intriguing story. By refusing to shy away from the disturbing elements of Nordic folklore, Dimfrost Studio could be onto something special. While gameplay feels like it could be more innovative, these memorable sequences make it one of 2023’s more unique adventures. Bramble: The Mountain King arrives on April 27th on all major platforms. A demo is available now on Steam.

Bloober Team has come out and clarified rumors surrounding the Silent Hill 2 remake release status, as well as some inaccurate translations and out-of-context statements. This comes after Bloober Team president Pitor Babieno gave an interview with the Polish site Bankier.pl last week, reportedly saying that the game was “technically ready.”

“As the Bloober Team, we don’t comment on rumors. However, this time we need to take the floor, as some recent statements have been taken out of context, due to inaccurate translations,” the developer said in a statement on Twitter. “Our company’s messages did not contain sales forecasters of specific titles. The figures connected to Silent Hill 2 refer to the potential success of the type of games we will be focusing on in the future.”

pic.twitter.com/OeMPmvOMjk

— Bloober Team (@BlooberTeam) March 28, 2023

Bloober Team continued: “It is also not true that we have announced that Silent Hill 2 is ready for release. Regardless of the development stage, all of our activities are focused on obtaining the highest quality for the finished product—the quality that fans of Silent Hill 2 deserve. We are aware that players are waiting for more information about Silent Hill 2. As soon as such information becomes available, we are sure that Konami, the publisher for the game, will share it with fans.”

According to the interview, Babieno reportedly said that the Silent Hill 2 remake was close to being finished, as well as the game’s release schedule and promotion, were dependent on other partners like Konami.

Now, the studio has issued a statement clarifying the situation. First revealed in October 2022 during a State of Play presentation, there hasn’t been a release date or window confirmed for the remake of Silent Hill 2 just yet. The game will launch for PC and as a timed-console exclusivity for PlayStation 5.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is getting its very own limited edition Switch OLED. It was initially revealed during a Tears of the Kingdom gameplay showcase on March 28, and will release on April 28, 2023. It is now available to preorder from select retailers, and you can find links to preorder the console just below.

Preorders for Tears of the Kingdom are also available from all retailers, and you can find out everything you need to know when scoring your copy in our dedicated preorder guide, alongside news on the Link Amiibo, and Collector’s Edition. For more updates on preorders, make sure you’re following @IGNDeals on Twitter.

Where to Preorder The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Limited Edition Nintendo Switch OLED Model

At the time of writing, only Best Buy has the console available to preorder, but this is likely to change very quickly, so stay tuned for more updates. To limit any scalping, Best Buy is allowing only one order per customer, and you need to be logged in to an active Best Buy account to complete your preorder.

This will be the first fully-fledged Zelda-themed Nintendo Switch console as Breath of the Wild launched alongside the base red and blue or grey hardware, though Skyward Sword HD did get its own special Joy-Cons.

Preorder Tears of the Kingdom Switch Pro Controller and Carry Case

A limited edition Nintendo Switch Pro Controller was also announced during the presentation mentioned, featuring a black and white design again decorated with gold patterns and the Tri-Force in the background.

Completing the collection, Nintendo also revealed a Tears of the Kingdom-themed carry case for the console. These will both launch alongside the game on May 12. For more on Tears of the Kingdom, check out these 10 awesome details IGN staff spotted from the gameplay reveal.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

If you were to ask me “Mitchell, what kind of video games do you like,” I honestly don’t know how to really answer that question. I feel like I can find the fun in just about any genre, outside of ones that really require some sort of enthusiast or hobby level interest, like simulation car games, sports games, or walking games.

But if you were to say “No, Mitchell, what’s like… your genre. The bundle of games that you’d save on a sinking ship and be forced to forsake all others.” Well, that’s easy: It’s action games. Or if we want to get extra specific, it’s the subgenre that’s become known as “Character Action Games”

Character action games are my first love in the world of video games. When they’re good, they light my brain up like no other thanks to their challenging yet rewarding difficulty, flashy combat, and moments that just make you feel awesome as the person orchestrating the on-screen chaos.

But while we’ve seen modern sequels and reimaginings of classic series like God of War, Devil May Cry, and Bayonetta, there’s one 3D action game pioneer that still has not seen a new entry in over a decade: Ninja Gaiden. And that’s a dang shame because, in my eyes, Ninja Gaiden Black is the best pure action game of all time.

The Dance of Combat

When talking about what makes Ninja Gaiden Black so dang good, we gotta break the conversation down into three main points. So let’s start with the flashiest of the bunch, the combat, and specifically how it works on both the surface and deeper levels.

While they’re grouped in the same genre, Ninja Gaiden’s combat is actually much different than a game like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, or really like any other game within the genre. But to focus on DMC and Bayonetta specifically, those games have always been about style and spectacle. They’re the types of game where the expression of combat is just as important as the function of combat. You’re knocking enemies up into the air, hitting them with crazy air combos, knocking them away, pulling them back in, and at a higher level of play, you’re extending those combos with jump cancels, swapping weapons on the fly, and letting your creativity flow freely as you fight your enemies.

And while some of that is also true for Ninja Gaiden Black (he is a ninja after all, so there’s an innate coolness to his move set) its combat is less about style and more about doing whatever it takes to stay alive against hyper-aggressive enemies. Key to this is the fact that Ryu can do extraordinarily powerful things to enemies that you just don’t see very often in action games. His flying swallow attack allows him to almost instantly close the distance on any enemy, potentially kill them in one hit with a decapitation, and otherwise deal big damage to them even if it doesn’t lop off their head; the Izuna Drop is a one-touch kill combo on most enemies with huge amounts of splash damage; and on top of all that, Ryu also has access to screen clearing ninpo attacks that deal massive single target and AOE damage.

What it all boils down to is that perhaps more so than just about any other action game out there, once you get a handle on Ryu’s abilities and a couple of upgrades under your belt, playing as Ryu Hayabusa is one of the best power trips ever.

And all of that is speaking purely on a surface level. When you start to dig deeper, Ninja Gaiden’s brilliant combat somehow manages to shine even brighter. At its core is arisk reward mechanic involving essence and Ryu’s Ultimate Techniques. Essence comes in three forms: Yellow, a currency used to purchase items and upgrades at the shop, blue essence restores your life, and red essence restores one of Ryu’s ninpo uses.

But the true value of essence comes from the fact that if you start to charge Ryu’s ultimate attack while there’s essence around, Ryu will suck in the essence around him and instantly charge the attack. If it lands, you get a much larger orb of essence with several times the amount of either currency, health restoration, or ninpo restoration. But if it doesn’t land, then you lose that essence. You can even hold down the block button to make it so that Ryu doesn’t pick up any essence, which lets you maneuver around a combat encounter and try to find the best timing and opportunity to use your ultimate technique.

This “dance” is something that’s so wholly unique to Ninja Gaiden, nothing before or since has a combat system quite like it, especially when you mix in Ryu’s many movement options, the various weapons he can use, and his ranged weapon options. You can hop on enemy heads, run up walls, run across walls, cancel jumps out of your evasive rolls, use smoke bombs to lower an enemy’s defense, use a weapon’s unique trait to wall splat them – it all leads to a style of combat that is very dynamic, frenetic, and always feels fresh because there are so many different effective ways that you have to deal with enemies.

And there needs to be, because the enemies in Ninja Gaiden Black are among the most ferocious you’ll ever face. Which leads us to point number two:

The AI

Ninja Gaiden Black’s enemy AI is a key reason why I love its combat so much, and why it still hasn’t gotten stale even all these years later. Many action games have AI that’re very reactive, meaning they like to circle around your character and primarily respond to what you do. They’ll block, evade, counter attack, or maybe just take the hit. In short, they come to life once you start attacking, but don’t typically push the action.

In many other games, they might be more aggressive, but their attacks are very limited and relatively predictable, making the difficulty be more about juggling multiple enemies at once.

But in Ninja Gaiden Black, the operating word for the AI is relentless. They’re constantly jumping all over the place, dashing in, peppering you from a distance, they’ll grab you if you turtle up, and even at the early stages, there’s just an added level of intensity from the enemies.

Now this isn’t to say that this is the “right” way for action games to be. Variety is the spice of life, and the reactive AI might fit a combat system with more parry heavy combat focus, just like how the more predictable fodder-like AI plays to the strengths of a game like Devil May Cry by giving the player more opportunities to absolutely style on their enemies. Plus, there’s plenty of excitement that comes from the mixing of these basic enemies with the tougher enemies that break these particular molds.

That said, man does the hyper aggression of Ninja Gaiden Black’s enemies go well with the lightning fast pace of its combat and Ryu’s mobility centric combat style. Even small fights against basic enemies have tension to them, and the bigger fights that mix-in large lumbering demons along with the quick ones that have the ability to dart in and out super quickly, are edge of your seat fights for survival.

Mobility

The third key to Ninja Gaiden Black’s gameplay is Ryu’s mobility. No one moves or incorporates that movement into combat quite like Ryu Hayabusa. A lot of this stems from the fact that his jump is super low to the ground, and focused more on horizontal movement than vertical movement. This allows him to quickly jump towards enemies, and enhances the usage of moves like the Flying Swallow, and the guillotine throw.

It also allows for Ryu to really quickly move around a combat space while limiting his vulnerability thanks to the ability to cancel out of an evasive roll with a roll jump. Not only are they invaluable in combat, but they’re also just super fun to use to get around the world.

Above all though, Ryu feels utterly smooth to control. He’s able to go seamlessly from on the ground, to on the wall, to flying swallow, to jumping off enemy heads, to quick-charging an Ultimate Technique. There’s a flow to his movement that’s just a joy to be in control of.

Let’s be fair though: if you plan on jumping into Ninja Gaiden Black for the first time in 2023, you should know that not everything has aged as well as the combat. Its story is completely forgettable, some of its deeper systems could have been better explained to ease the on-ramp for new players, its menus are clunky and require you to constantly call them up in order to equip new weapons and use consumables, and navigation through its world could have used some better direction.

But it is also an action game, and when it comes to its action, Ninja Gaiden Black is a masterclass of combat design, and is the one game that I keep coming back to on a yearly basis, because of this particular blend of deep combat, challenging and aggressive enemy design, and unparalleled mobility options.

Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom features a ton of new abilities that weren’t in Breath of the Wild, including one that references a classic Nintendo toy.

As revealed in the new ten-minute gameplay showcase, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma showed off four new abilities of Link’s: Recall, Fuse, Ascend, and Ultrahand.

The last of these is named after a grabbing toy from the late 1960s. The Ultra Hand consisted of several criss-cross plastic tubes that connected a grabber on one end and handles on the other. The concept was simple: kids could use the Ultra Hand to pick things up from far away and drop them elsewhere, not completely unlike Link’s ability in Tears of the Kingdom.

Ultrahand / Toy / Nintendo / 1973 pic.twitter.com/ptyulRBXYr

— Cool Box Art (@CoolBoxArt) March 28, 2023

Even more interestingly, the Ultra Hand was invented by Gunpei Yokoi, who would go on to create the video game console D-Pad, the Game Boy, and Game and Watch.

The Ultrahand ability in Tears of the Kingdom lets Link pick things up and move them around too, though it admittedly gets a little bit more complex than its 1960s counterpart. Link can use it to combine different objects, from logs and shields to rocks and pitchforks and seemingly everything else.

Aonuma showed how the ability could be used in several different ways, alongside revealing a ton of other details about Tears of the Kingdom including weapon durability, sky islands, and more. A limited edition Nintendo Switch console was also unveiled.

We previously learned that Tears of the Kingdom will have the largest file size of any first party Nintendo Switch game, include classic enemies from Ocarina of Time, and cost a heftier-than-usual $70 to match its scope, but the main reason fans are excited is because Breath of the Wild is considered one of the best games of all time.

In our 10/10 review, IGN said: “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is evocative, exhilarating, and a masterclass in open-world design.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Nintendo has finally shared uninterrupted gameplay of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ahead of its May release date. The new footage showed off four new abilities for Link, a closer look at the Sky Islands we’ve seen in all of the trailers, weapon durability’s return, and a lot more.

Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma kicked off the presentation by revealing the Nintendo Switch OLED Tears of the Kingdom special edition, which launches on April 28. Then, we jumped right into Tears of the Kingdom.

The gameplay kicked off with Link riding on a horse through the fields of Hyrule. The UI looks very similar to Breath of the Wild, with the temperature, weather, time, and minimap displayed in the bottom right corner, and Link’s health and inventory in the upper left. However, the Rune icon has been replaced with an Apple symbol, indicating a food menu shortcut.

Aonuma indicated there are a lot of changes to Tears of the Kingdom’s version of Hyrule, saying, “If we talk about all the changes today, we’ll run out of time.”

The camera then panned up to show one of the big land masses in the sky, which are now officially known as Sky Islands. As Link was riding by a stable, we see a big object fall from the sky. Link climbed to the object and used a new Recall ability to rewind an object’s movement. Link then rode the rock into the sky and glided over to the Sky Island.

Breath of the Wild’s Weapon Durability Returns

Gameplay then jumped to a different Sky Island featuring golden trees and some man-made structures. Link ran into a new enemy type called a Construct, which Link fought with a Tree Branch. The weapon quickly broke, confirming the return of Breath of the Wild’s durability system.

However, there is a new mechanic when it comes to weapons as well. Link walked up to a rock while wielding a Tree Branch, and used the new Fuse ability to merge the Tree Branch and Rock together to create a makeshift hammer. This significantly improved the attack power of the weapon.

Fuse will also work on two weapons, like merging a stick and a Pitchfork together to crate an extremely long weapon. You can Fuse materials to arrows to create makeshift elemental arrows, or attach an eyeball to create a homing arrow. Even enemies will sometimes wield Fused weapons.

Aonuma also showed off the new Ultrahand ability, which is the way Link will construct the vehicles seen in the latest Tears of the Kingdom trailer. Link combined three logs together, and added a fan he found on the ground to the logs to power the raft. He then easily sailed across a river using the raft he just constructed.

Next, Aonuma demonstrated the new Ascend ability, which allows Link to move through ceilings to advance to the floor above. “As long as there’s a ceiling, you can use it anywhere,” Aonuma said. This included inside a cave, where Link was able to completely skip climbing by using the Ascend ability.

The gameplay presentation ended with Link falling back to the surface, where it was revealed that players can hold R to fall to the surface faster. The gameplay chunk no-doubt included plenty of secrets, which we’ll surely all dissect today. But it won’t be long until we’re exploring this revamped Hyrule ourselves, as Aonuma confirmed that Tears of the Kingdom has wrapped development ahead of its May 12, 2023 release date.

This is by far the largest gameplay chunk we’ve seen of the highly-anticipated sequel. First announced in 2019, it’s been a long road of delays and teaser trailers finally culminating in today’s big blowout. Previous trailers have teased the game’s new vehicle mechanics, Link’s glowing hand, and revealed the collector’s edition and amiibo. Tears of the Kingdom will also be Nintendo’s first $70 game, and it has the largest file size of any first-party Nintendo Switch game.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

The archetypical bullet hell shooter — think Ikaruga or TwinBee — are top-down, two-dimensional aerial battlefields locked on an infinite vertical scroll. One daring spaceship or fighter jet must evade a wild morass of spherical, slow-moving projectiles, while destroying an armada of puny, fragile interceptors. In that sense, Luna Abyss deviates from the established tradition in some fascinating ways. This is a first-person shooter that cribs liberally from the quarter-eating cabinets of yore; your field of view billows up with floating bullets, but unlike Halo or Call of Duty, you’re not expected to duck behind cover in order to survive. Instead, in Luna Abyss, players will be squeezing through the slight crevices in between the shells in the same way you might slip through the empty space in an Enter The Gungeon shotgun blast. It’s a wild idea, and after a brief demo, there’s a chance Luna Abyss sticks the landing.

Luna Abyss dunks you headfirst into a world gone horribly wrong. You’ll take control of some sort of human-like creature named Fawkes, who has awoken — yes — with amnesia in an alien setting. The terrain evokes the inhospitable machine cities of the Matrix films; composed of slithering mechanical coils, glossy obsidian stones, and oppressive neon floodlights. In fact, almost every square inch of Luna Abyss is sheathed in black, red, and white. Fawkes will navigate a few primitive jumping puzzles before stumbling upon their first firearm — an introductory pea-shooter buoyed by no ammunition and a liberal overheat timer. Soon enough, you’ll also discover that you don’t need to do much aiming with your arsenal. The left click automatically locks on to any unlucky target in proximity with your crosshairs, quickly reducing them to dust.

This is the primary way Luna Abyss distinguishes itself from other shooters. The combat encounters aren’t structured around reflexes and mouse dexterity; you’re guaranteed to land clean, powerful shots on anyone inhabiting your field of view. With those responsibilities accounted for, you’ll spend most of your time with Luna Abyss strafing around the map, which is important, because the enemies you’ll encounter have the means of emitting ungodly barrages of plasma missiles. This is where Luna Abyss lays its bullet hell DNA bare. All of the isometric bobbing and weaving you did on a flat arcade screen must now be adapted to a fully 3D environment; victories and defeats start with your footwork, rather than the location of your cursor. It’s a brand new way to play an FPS, and once you get the rhythm down, Luna Abyss has a way of getting under your skin.

The best example of this dynamic is the single boss fight I encountered in the demo. I faced off against a monstrosity who was capable of unleashing a psychedelic spiral of lethal orbs. It almost felt like I was engaged in a Star Fox showdown; you need to identify the few safe spots on the floor, while slowly chipping away at their health bar. You get the sense that Luna Abyss is barely scratching the surface of the various ways it can torture us. I would not be surprised if, after a few more levels, this is a video game that gets very, very difficult.

Towards the end of my run, Fawkes discovered a brand new weapon. It works like a slow, punchy railgun, and has the capacity to obliterate the luminous plasma shields bubbling certain enemies. This added a new wrinkle to the arenas; you blow away a target’s protection before quickly mousewheeling to the machine gun in order to finish them off. (If you are a veteran of the Halo 2 plasma pistol/battle rifle combo, you’ll be right at home.) This was a promising sign that Luna Abyss will continue to find interesting ways to augment its formula the more we sink our teeth into it. I also hope the deliberate pacing of its storytelling picks up. Developer Bonsai Collective has cooked up a memorably nauseating realm, but thus far, I’m only learning more about its specifics through text logs and elliptical conversations with the occasional Dark Souls-ish NPC. I’m enjoying the sights, but I can’t quite say I’m immersed.

Then again, demos are supposed to be a small glimpse of a much bigger picture. And from everything I’ve played, I’d be shocked if Luna Abyss doesn’t have a few more tricks up its sleeve.

Player First Games, the developers behind Multiversus, confirmed that players who spent money on the game throughout the open beta will not get a refund. The news comes from the official Multiversus website under the FAQ page.

Under the question “Will refunds be available for previously purchased content?,” it reads, “This announcement does not change any current refund policies or terms offered by the storefront(s) from which Founder’s Packs or Gleamium bundles were purchased. For more information, please visit the customer support pages for PlayStation, Xbox, Steam and Epic Games. Additionally, refunds are not available as a result of the Open Beta closure. However, all progress and previously earned or purchased content will carry over when MultiVersus returns in early 2024.”

Fans have been quick to express their opinion on the matter. One post on the Multiversus subreddit declares “I want my money back,” while others took to Twitter to call out the move.

This may well be one of the most stupid decisions I’ve ever heard.

Closing your dwindling game for >1 year with zero warning to those who have spent *actual money* on it being unable to play, and presumably charging them again at full release. The gall! I’d be refunding it all.

— Ryan T. Brown ? #WASD #OLL ? (@Toadsanime) March 27, 2023

Earlier today, it was announced that Multiversus would shut down its online features on June 25 and will aim to launch the full game by early 2024. Tony Huynh, co-founder and game director at Player First Games, said, “Our Open Beta has been an important learning opportunity for us and a stepping stone to the next phase of MultiVersus.”

For more on Multiversus, check out our 8/10 review, which reads, “MultiVersus is a raucous and fun competitive platform fighter that rewards players for learning the strengths and weaknesses of its eclectic cast of characters and working as part of a team.”

Luis Joshua Gutierrez is a freelance writer who loves games. You can reach him at @ImLuisGutierrez on Twitter.

2023 might finally be the year where 2TB PS5 SSDs might actually be worth the upgrade. Last year, prices for 1TB PS5 SSDs averaged around $150, whereas 2TB SSDs hovered closer to $300. This year, we’re seeing 1TB SSDs trickle below the $100 price point and 2TB SSDs are under $200. The reason PS5 SSD upgrades are pricey is that you can’t use any old SSD and expect it to perform well on the PS5 console. You’ll want to pick up an PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 solid state drive with a rated 5,500MB/s read speed to match the PS5’s internal drive. That means, for better or for worse, picking a top-shelf SSD.

Note that Sony recommends a heatsink attached to your SSD. Not all SSDs listed here have pre-installed heatsinks. For the ones that do, we’ll be sure to mention it. For the ones that don’t, all you have to do is purchase your own heatsink (we recommend this one for $10) and install it yourself. It’s very easy.

Samsung 1TB PS5 SSD for $75

Samsung SSDs need no introduction. They’ve made some of the most popular and reliable PS5 SSDs on the market. The 980 Pro has been out for a while now, but it’s still one of Samsung’s fastest M.2 PCIe SSD, with only the newly released 990 Pro being faster. It is fully PS5 compatible in terms of form factor and performance, with blistering speeds of up to 7,100MB/s. It goes toe to toe with other well-known options like the WD Black SN850 and the Seagate Firecuda 530.

Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for PS5 for $131.99

Crucial’s newest M.2 SSD meets all the requirements for your PS5 SSD upgrade. It supports transfer speeds of up to 6,660MB/s which is well above the 5,500MB/s minimum threshold. Yes there are faster SSDs out there, but if your intention is to put this in your PS5, then that extra speed is worthless because you’re bottlenecked by the original PS5 SSD. If you’re worried about opening up your PS5 case, don’t worry it’s very easy. Crucial has an official YouTube PS5 SSD install guide to see you through the process.

WD 2TB PS5 SSD from $159.99

Amazon is offering a 2TB WD Black SN850X with preinstalled heatsink for only $179.99. The SN850X is the successor to the SN850 SSD. It has newer flash chips (BiCS5 vs BiCS4) and an updated firmware, which combined offer improved sequential and random read/write speeds. For PC gamers, there’s also an updated Game Mode 2.0 utility that’s designed to tune the SSD for better performance during gaming sessions.

Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 2TB “Optimized for PS5” SSD with Heatsink for Only $154.99

Corsair is a very well known brand for DIY PC builders. Corsair makes some of the best gaming products on the market, and that includes solid-state memory like RAM and SSDs. The MP600 Pro is the same super-fast M.2 NVMe PCIe x4 Gen4 SSD that’s marketed for enthusiast gaming PC builds. This one is “optimized for PS5” because it includes a rugged preinstalled heatsink that is slim enough to fit in the PS5 bay without any issues. Performance wise, the MP600 Pro matches the best SSDs out there with its 7,100MB/sec sequential read and 6,800MB/sec sequential write speeds.

Patriot Viper VP4300 2TB PS5 SSD for $142.99

Amazon is offering the Patriot Viper VP4300 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 x 4 Internal Gaming Solid State Drive, which is compatible with the PS5 console, for only $142.99. This makes it definitely the lowest price we’ve seen for a brand name 2TB PS5 SSD, especially since this one even includes a slim aluminum heatshield. The VP4300 is an M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 x4 solid state drive with rated transfer speeds of 7,400MB/s read and 6,800MB/s write. That makes it well above the PS5’s recommended 5,600MB/s speed requirement.

More PS5 SSD Deals

There may be other SSD deals out there, but these are the PS5 SSDs we’ve tried ourselves and highly recommend. They also double up as outstanding boot drives for your gaming PC, in case you don’t need additional storage for your PS5 console.

How easy is it to install the SSD?

It’s extremely easy! Removing the case cover is completely toolless. In fact, the only screw you have to remove is the one that keeps the cover for the SSD bay in place. You don’t even put it back when you’re done. Sony has a quick and easy YouTube video guide.

What if the SSD I bought doesn’t have a heatsink?

Sony recommends you install an SSD that has an attached heatsink. If the SSD you purchase doesn’t include one, it’s simple enough to buy one for about $10 on Amazon and add it yourself. Most of these heatsinks are just attached using an adhesive like thermal tape.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.