Category: PlayStation

Last week, we asked you to travel to the shores of Valhalla to face Kratos’ past in God of War Ragnarök using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

sirevanztheduke shares Kratos swinging the Leviathan Axe with a frost attack

Sanderbleidd shares a subdued shadowy portrait of Kratos

DeathStalker131 shares a minotaur rearing back after an attack

thefrostysm shares a low angled view of Kratos wielding the Blade of Olympus

DotPone shares a shirtless Kratos wielding red hot chains

call_me_xavii shares a closer look at the Blade of Olympus

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?

THEME:  God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla (again)

SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on December 17, 2023

Next week, let’s try that again. We’re headed to the shores of Valhalla to face new challenges in God of War Ragnarök. Share more moments from Kratos’ journey using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Announced today, Beelzebub and company are rolling out onto PlayStation 5 & PlayStation 4 on April 26! In this action-RPG players will be able to explore a vast map with a wide array of vehicles in a world developed by the creator of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama.

Become the main character, Beelzebub, and lead your company of heroic misfits on an extraordinary adventure in search of the Legendary Spring hidden in the desert. Between bandits, fierce wildlife, and the Royal Army, reaching the spring won’t be easy!

The latest trailer shows new story elements and exciting vehicular gameplay. Watch the release date trailer below along with PS Blog exclusive info on the newest revealed vehicles in Sand Land!

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Hovercar

As its namesake would imply, the Hovercar is a medium sized vehicle with the ability to hover, allowing it to easily traverse over wetlands and rough terrain. It can also use its boost to float to a greater height to elevate over ledges and cross gaps. When you find an area which seems to be difficult to drive through, like a quicksand biome, try the Hovercar to get out of a tough situation.

When building your vehicles you can build unique, powerful weapons to support you in combat and traversing with the Options build slot.

Hovertank

Another vehicle with similar hover functions but is more specialized for battle is the Hovertank. It equips strong long-range weaponry that can cause massive damage. However, the Hovertank’s aiming stability may be difficult to harness due to its floating nature, but once mastered, the Hovertank will be an almost unrivaled vehicle in your arsenal.

Customize vehicles with wide arsenal of parts and weapons

As shown in the trailer and clips above, vehicles can be customized with hundreds of parts that can be applied to main and secondary weapons, engines, and suspensions. Use your imagination to design your own vehicles and play to your style! Dive into dungeons to find treasure chests and obtain stronger, unique machine parts.

With powerful enemies comes the need for powerful weapons. While designing your vehicles you can equip special Option weapons. Equip the Neutron Cannon to send a flash of high power energy to take down large foes or minions closely placed together.

Dealing with crowd control and need to maneuver? Activate the special Option ability of the Autonomous C-Drone (Auto Combat Drone) to help spread out your firepower.

Stylize vehicles with skins and decals

Customization is not only for performance but also for looks with the ability to change vehicle coloring and the application of decals. Visit the paint shop in Spino, the base camp of your adventure, and design vehicles to show your style to enemies. Check out the preorder exclusive Midnight Panther and Jungle Heart vehicle skins below.

There’s a whole world to explore and more exciting vehicles to discover – check out the previous trailers and find your favorite vehicles! After the reveal of the new mysterious character, Ann, and a new green biome in the latest trailer, stay tuned for more Sand Land info.

We know it’s been a long wait but it’s finally time to reveal more about the PC release of Helldivers 2. We know what’s on your mind, first and foremost: Is it crossplay?

And we’re pleased to announce that Helldivers 2 supports crossplay! That means your teammates on PC can play with you on PS5 and vice versa. Community and teamwork are the most important pillars of Helldivers 2, and so it is essential to ensure players can work together regardless of the system they choose to use. Together we can celebrate victories, mourn losses, and liberate the galaxy without platform boundaries.

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As part of this announcement, we’re also finally able to provide you with the minimum, recommended, performance, and ultra system specifications for PC players to ensure that no matter what kind of equipment your squad uses to play – PS5 or PC with a broad range of supported PC hardware – you’ll be able to spread Managed Democracy together.

Wondering if your PC can handle Helldivers 2? Here are our PC system specifications:

Now you’re armed with crossplay and the required specs to go on your very first dive. It’s not much longer to wait, recruits: Helldivers 2 is launching on February 8, and pre-orders are open now. We can’t wait to see you on the battlefield!

PlayStation Network Account Required. Gameplay requires internet access and paid for PlayStation Plus membership (sold separately) for PS5. PlayStation Plus membership subject to recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Age restrictions apply. Full terms: play.st/psplus-usageterms.

In the new year, Rocksteady returns with a fresh addition to the beloved Arkhamverse with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a third-person action shooter launching February 2 on PS5.

I recently had a chance to play the game, including a basic tutorial on each character’s traversal and combat, co-op missions, and a climactic boss battle against The Fastest Man Alive. Let’s dive into the hijinks these antiheroes have up their sleeves.

Move with meaning

The hands-on experience began with tutorials to introduce each character’s specific traversal and combat mechanics. Through these lessons, I gained a grasp on how each character’s movement uniquely influences their combat abilities.

“It’s not traversal and combat,” says Rocksteady Advanced Combat Designer Noel Chamberlain. “They’re both really intertwined…everything is seamless.”

For example, King Shark’s athletic traversal and combat are intuitive. His Apex Pounce, a traversal mechanic that launches the big fish into the sky, is a simple way to get moving. Once in the air, he can swim through the clouds to gain speed, setting himself up for a dive bomb landing to viciously melee attack foes via combat knives.

Harley Quinn and Deadshot’s movement mechanics are very different from each other but share similarities in that gaining speed while traversing heavily relies on sliding. This nimble slide is useful while waiting on the cooldowns for Harley’s Grapnel Gun (thanks Batman) and Deadshot’s jetpack.

“The movement is a huge part of the skill in this game, and we built it to have complexity very deliberately so players can get better and learn the intricacies over time,” says Rocksteady Production Manager Jack Hackett.

Perfecting the slide timing to keep momentum once on the ground can be tricky, but nailing the rhythm is so satisfying that you’ll look forward to mastering the mechanics. For Harley, the ability to adjust the length of your grapple rope after deploying also makes for a helpful tool in strategically attacking from above.

Captain Boomerang’s abilities appear to have a steeper learning curve while also boasting a high return on investment for wreaking havoc. Boomerang utilizes a Speed Force Gauntlet (courtesy of Dr. Sivana) triggered by holding R1 and pointing your cursor in the desired direction. Once successfully activated, you’re launched in what seems like a millisecond. How you aim and angle your launch is crucial in setting yourself up for strategic chaos.

Feel good while doin’ bad

Story cinematics followed character tutorials, leading me into co-op gameplay missions throughout Metropolis. Cinematics are dripping with the cast’s rag-tag charisma, and I frequently giggled at the witty banter between the Squad members. Compared to many games where the protagonist’s mission is led by virtue and honor, the Suicide Squad has none of that, creating a light-hearted and sarcastic tone throughout.

“They (Suicide Squad) are brash, impulsive, mean, argumentative and rude,” says Jack Hackett. “And normally when you’re behaving like that in a game you feel like you’re breaking the rules…but with the squad you can be as mean or silly as you like and it all fits the story.”

Express your personal flair and attitude through silly actions you can trigger during downtime.

Open-world Metropolis

The co-op missions were my first true introduction to the open-world Metropolis. The City of Tomorrow is sprawling and immerses players with expansive, sun-kissed cityscapes that make for a traversal playground in any direction you look. The overall detail of the open-world is impressive, from weathered building sides to the train lines running throughout the massive city.

DC fans will be pleased when exploring to discover DC easter eggs planted all over, from a Zatana ad posted on a city building side to discovering Clark Kent’s desk when sent on a mission to recover data from the Daily Planet.

Squad up in co-op

In my experience playing the story missions in co-op, the team dynamic added enthusiasm and presented challenges that stressed the importance of cohesion as one unit. Once headed to a mission objective as a squad you’re quickly reminded of the high stakes present, as stragglers who fall too far behind the pack are considered deserters, leading to literal mind-blowing consequences (brain bomb detonation courtesy of Task Force X leader Amanda Waller). The massive open-world Metropolis can make it difficult to keep tabs on the full team, but it’ll also be crucial for rushing to a downed team member’s aid.

Taking on The Flash

To put a bow on the hands-on experience, I finished up the day with a climactic showdown versus the Justice League’s very own Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash. The battle takes place at a space-themed amusement park located in Metropolis, which almost feels like an arena surrounded by buildings and an overhead bridge that adds verticality to the space.

Be warned that the Flash you face here is not the typical lovable hero that we all know. Though he keeps his wits about him, this Flash is marked with red glowing eyes and seemingly rotten, veiny skin signifying Brainiac’s corruption over him.

The key to taking down Flash is executing Critical Counters to deflect his attacks and charge your character’s Decoupler, which acts as a shield against his Speed Force attacks. Once your Speed Force protection is charged up, the challenge becomes putting yourself in a position to shoot down the speedster.

Taking advantage of the full area and using buildings to create vantage points as Flash zips around the battleground is key. As the battle heats up, stay aware of the surrounding chaos and be sure to evade the Speed Force tornadoes Flash hurls your way.

Prepare to squad up and hit the mean streets of Metropolis when Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launches February 2 on PS5.

Sins of the Flesh is the next update for our darkly cute cult sim Cult of the Lamb, and it’s the biggest yet. As well as a shrine-load of killer new content and a congregation of quality of life improvements, a deliciously evil new resource has been thrown into the macabre mix: Sin. But how do you generate it? Well, by sinning.

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The free Sins of the Flesh update adds a selection of decadent new structures to Cult of the Lamb, which when built in your base and enjoyed by you and your followers will reward your cult with lashings of delectable, so-wrong-it’s-right Sin.

Take the Drinkhouse, for example. Here a follower can volunteer to mix up drinks and serve them to your thirsty cultists. Terrifying treats on the menu include Brog Brew, Grape Nectar, Eggnog, and, uh, Poop Juice. Tasty! Imbibing these sugary beverages at the Drinkhouse has a risk of befuddling your followers, but every dubious drink they hurl down their adorable necks will generate sweet, sweet Sin.

You can also form a devilish Drum Circle with your followers, which will let you take part in Sins of the Flesh’s all-new rhythm-based minigame. The better your performance, the more Sin you’ll get in return. You’ve heard of Rock Band… this is Flock Band.

But let’s be honest: the real star of the update is the Mating Tent. If two of your followers are into each other, and have a sufficiently high love match, you’ll be able to send them into the tent together. A few seconds later they’ll emerge with an egg, which can either be harvested for food or, best of all, hatched into a tiny new follower. This dinky disciple will share some traits with its parents, and its birth can generate Sin.

Gather enough Sin and you can perform a series of new Rituals, including the free-spirited Rite of Lust. This will cause your followers to cast their robes aside and dance merrily around a flowery shrine. But if it’s chaos you desire, the new Rite of Wrath ritual might be more your speed. This unleashes a fury of violence, with fighting, killing, vandalism, and other scenes of havoc gripping your base.

This is just a brief, tantalizing taste of what you can do with Sin. There are other dark deeds to discover in the Sins of the Flesh update, including a selection of new Sin-based Doctrines and a troubling new food source that is not for the weak of heart—or weak of stomach. You can discover this, and more, for yourself (if you dare) when Sins of the Flesh launches for PS4 and PS5 on January 16.

It’s a new year, but we’re still thinking about the amazing games we played last year. This week, we’re highlighting some of your favorite captures from 2023 in Share of the Year: 

__Auron__ shares Clive unleashing his power in Final Fantasy XVI

DCTLOUVP shares Abby grimacing while fighting near fire in The Last of Us Part II

TakaSanGames shares a Na’vi raising their 4-fingered hand over their face in this portrait from Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

jenniandgaming shares a horse and rider framed by a lasso in Red Dead Redemption 2

wingsforsmiles shares Darth Vader’s suit lit only by the red glow of his lightsaber in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Tohyan_vp shares a Tallneck wading into the waters of a ruined San Francisco in Horizon Forbidden West

Morph__1 shares Ahti the Janitor singing some karaoke in Alan Wake 2

x__stardustgaming__x shares Astarion sharing some intense side-eye in Baldur’s Gate 3

reddeadgem4 shares Basim cuddling a kitty in Assassin’s Creed Mirage

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?

THEME:  God of War Ragnarök Valhalla

SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on January 10, 2024

Next week, we head to the shores of Valhalla to face new challenges in God of War Ragnarók. Share moments from Kratos’ journey using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Yakuza is a storied franchise that keeps on giving. Each installment in the series leading to 2020’s Yakuza: Like a Dragon has offered something new and innovative, along with consistently satisfying expansions to the evergrowing story of main characters Kazuma Kiryu and Ichiban Kasuga.

I’m glad to say that after a hands-on preview of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the trend continues. There is almost too much here for Yakuza fans, both new and old, to sink their teeth in and enjoy. This latest entry features a fusion of the series’ original beat-em-up and current turn-based roleplaying style, an island-building mode, and even more charm than ever. 

With all this present and more, I’ve found that the title Infinite Wealth might just describe everything the game offers and how long it may last. Read on for a few highlights revealed during my gameplay session.

Get your walking shoes (and segways) ready

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the first title in the Yakuza series to take our favorite motley crew out of Japan and into new territory. Kasuga and Kiryu’s missions lead them to this new location: Honolulu, Hawaii, where they decide to team up. 

Not only is this locale full of many new sights, sounds, allies, and enemies, but it is the most extensive map ever featured in the Yakuza series. It was so large that during my hours of playing, I wasn’t even able to explore even half the map. There’s no dead air to be found here. Enemies, missions, activities, and lively characters surround each corner. The only decision you have to make is what to tackle first.

Your friendly neighborhood ex-Yakuza

Personality points are nothing new to Like a Dragon, but Infinite Wealth gives a new way to allow Kasuga to move up the ranks. By being a friendly and outgoing tourist, you can constantly grow friendships with Honolulu’s population and boost your personality levels each time.

All it takes is a simple hello. By pressing square when walking by certain marked NPCs, Kasuga will release a welcoming, Helloooo! and get a good response back. Sometimes, these greetings will even unlock a small task like buying a kid a hot dog, which grants Kasuga a more significant personality increase. These increases unlock extra abilities like more skill slots, enhanced resistance to status ailments, better healing, and more guts. Plus, it’s just charming to make Kasuga into an even nicer guy than he already is.

Tourism buffs 

Being a good tourist isn’t limited to just greeting bystanders. Kasuga and the gang eventually find a tourism company called Alo Happy Tours. Specified for Japanese visitors touring Hawaii, Alo Happy Tours is a place where you can pay to jump into activities like surfing, yoga, and fire dancing. But these vacation sessions aren’t just for fun.

Each new skill learned through Happy Tours leads the party to unlock a new job and fighting style. For example, learning to fire dance unlocks an attacking mage style, learning to host gives access to a buffing support job, and learning to be a pop idol lets characters heal and cure allies. And there are so many activities and styles to learn that it felt nearly endless. Not to mention the amount of party combos you can come up with. 

Past wishes fulfilled

Kasuga isn’t the only one with a new way to unlock abilities through means other than fighting or the usual activities. Kiryu’s new ailment and decision to not get treatment have put his life on a clock. With his new friends Seong-Hui and Yu Nanba, he’s decided not to let it go to waste and tackle a bucket list before he checks out.

This bucket list isn’t just a plot element, but a gameplay mechanic. Kiryu can awaken his soul (Brawler fighting style), tech (Rush fighting style), and body (Beast fighting style) by completing items from this bucket list. Whether it’s a simple fishing trip or tasting some food he’s always wanted to taste like candy, Kiryu’s strength grows by living life to the fullest. I nearly shed a tear when he talked about everything he wanted to do without the fear and need of trying to look cool for people around him.

A game within a game

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To round out the hands-on time with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, I visited Dondoko Island, which can be best described as an entirely different game within Infinite Wealth. This island build and curation segment of the title tasks Kasuga with going around an island on the verge of obscurity. Being the nice guy he is, he decides to take matters into his own hands, helping its owner clean up trash, build new attractions, and bring visitors and life back to Dondoko.

If you’ve ever played a building simulator, then you know what you’re in for here. As soon as this mode started, I was hooked. Walking around and decorating the island in my own style, gathering supplies to create new items, catching fish and bugs, and fending off enemies were some of the most addicting elements I was exposed to so far in Infinite Wealth. And the fact that we’ll be able to visit the islands of other players makes the whole thing even more exciting. I’m just scared that my life might become absorbed by this mode so much that I won’t even finish the RPG side of the game.

Join Kasuga and Kiryu’s variety-packed trip to Hawaii when Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth drops on PS5 January 26.

Happy new year, PlayStation Stars members! We’ve got a fresh array of challenges, campaigns, and collectibles to kickstart your 2024 gaming journey. Let’s dive straight into what’s new this month.

PlayStation & You: Access controller
Available January 2

Available only to active Access controller owners. Create new ways to play with this highly customizable controller kit for PS5 consoles, designed to help those with disabilities play games more comfortably, for longer. To unlock your Access Controller Digital Collectible, play any game on your PS4 or PS5 console.

Campaign Name: Your PlayStation Monthly Games Await | Reward: 50 PlayStation Stars Points
Available January 2

New month, new PlayStation Plus monthly games. Try any one of this month’s games for 50 points.

Campaign Name: Vintage Lineage | Digital Collectible: Retro Lunch Box, First Edition
Available December January 4

Take it back to the days of pixel art gaming. Play any of one of the games listed below to unlock a retro lunch box Digital Collectible.

• The Messenger [PS4]
• Sea of Stars [PS5/PS4]
• Enter the Gungeon [PS4]
• Celeste [PS4]
• Undertale [PS4]
• Shovel Knight Treasure Trove [PS4]

Campaign Name: Wind Down with PlayStation | Digital Collectible: New Year, New Nest
Available January 17

Relax and unwind with some cozy game time. Start any of the games listed below to snag your snow globe Digital Collectible.

• Mail Time [PS5]
• Roki [PS5/PS4]
• OMNO  [PS4]
• Lake [PS5/PS4]

Campaign Name: Brain Games | Digital Collectible: Synaptic Feedback
Available December January 18

Sharpen your mind with these beautiful puzzle games. Each one offers a unique blend of brain-bending puzzles and eye-catching artwork to put your problem-solving skills to the test.

Play any one of these titles to unlock the Synaptic Feedback Digital Collectible.

• Viewfinder [PS5]
• Superliminal [PS5/PS4]
• The Witness [PS4]
• The Talos Principle 2 [PS5]
• Puzzling Places [PS5/PS4]

Stay tuned to PlayStation App for all the latest updates throughout the month. Not a PlayStation Stars member yet? Learn more about PlayStation Stars and join for free here.